The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance has warned that it may cut off the Federal Government’s funding to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the 2025 budget.
This decision followed the budget defense presentation by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, before the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee.
Oloyede revealed that JAMB remitted ₦4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2024, while receiving ₦6 billion in grants from the government.
This raised concerns among lawmakers, including Hon. Abiodun Faleke and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who questioned why a supposedly self-sufficient agency should still rely on government funding.
Faleke criticized the arrangement, saying, “You remitted N4bn and got N6bn from the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4bn and we stop the government from funding JAMB.”
Oshiomhole raised further concerns, saying “You spent N1.1bn on meals and refreshments. Are you being freely fed by the government? What this means is that you are spending the money you generate from poor students, many of them orphans.
“You also spent N850m on security, cleaning and fumigation in 2024. What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money.”
The former Edo State Governor also slammed JAMB for spending N600m on local travels even as he called on Oloyede to justify the N6.5bn on local training.
The committee hinted that JAMB’s allocation might be removed from future budgets unless the agency provides valid reasons for its continued reliance on government grants.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) had recovered 301 houses from two public officials in Abuja,