House To Check Discrepancies In JAMB Remittances To FG

By Oduyemi Odumade

The House of Representatives is to set up a committee to look into discrepancies in the remittances of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to the coffers of the Federal Government.

The decision to set up the committee followed the non reconciliation discovered in the books of the examination body and the account of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

Appearing before the House Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies, JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede said the examination body started remitting revenue to the Consolidated Revenue Fund less than a year after he assumed office.

He informed the Committee that in 2017, JAMB remitted the sum of N7.8bn and followed it up with N5.2bn, N3.68bn, N3.82bn, N3.5bn and N3.1bn in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Oloyede further told the lawmakers that JAMB under his stewardship generated internal revenue of N13.33bn, N11.35bn, N9.74bn and N12.62bn in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

However, discrepancy of N11m was established with the submission of Mrs Lucy Anom who represented the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, prompting the Chairman of the Committee, Afoji Obuku to call for a sub-committee to look into the alleged differences and report back to the Committee on Basic Education.

Meanwhile, JAMB has kicked against the Federal Government’s automated deduction of funds accruing to it from the registration fees paid by candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

Oloyede said the practice was significantly reducing its revenue contribution to the CRF.

“We tell government not to pay us salaries..We generate our own monies but these auto deduction is affecting our revenue for capital projects,” he said.

A member of the committee, Oyedeji Oyeshina pointed out that JAMB’s revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation had reduced since 2019.

But speaking, Oloyede explained that from the schedule of Internally Generated Revenue, IGR of the board from 2019 to 2022, there was significant reduction in remittances of revenue to the coffers of the federal government due to reduction of examination fees for UTME candidates.

He further explained that the examination fee was reduced in 2019 from N5,000 to N3500, adding that the federal government had kicked off automated deduction of the internal revenue remittances after the reduction of the examination fee was approved and effected by the board.

The committee, which assured of effective oversight of the examination body and some other agencies, had earlier requested the annual audited accounts, procurement plans, schedule of Internally Generated Revenue ,IGR and evidence of remittances from JAMB.

The committee further tasked JAMB to furnish it with a comprehensive list of its staff strength with a view to determining the level of compliance with the Federal Character Principle.

Edited By Grace Namiji