2025 Budget: NASS To Cut JAMB From FG Grant, Criticizes Spending

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Monday, January 13th, 2025

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Senate and House of Representatives have resolved to remove the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the Federal Government’s 2025 budget grant, citing concerns over the board’s financial management.

Lawmakers argued on Monday that it is unjustifiable for JAMB to remit N4 billion to the federation account while receiving N6 billion from the government in 2024.

This decision followed a presentation by JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, led by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), during an interactive session on revenue projections for 2025.

Oloyede revealed that JAMB remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund but received N6 billion from the Federal Government in 2024. This prompted committee members, including Abiodun Faleke and Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo), to question the rationale behind funding a self-sustaining agency with government grants.

“You remitted N4 billion and received N6 billion from the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4 billion and stop the government from funding JAMB?” asked Faleke, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance.

Senator Oshiomhole criticized JAMB for spending N1.1 billion on meals and refreshments in 2024.

“Are you being freely fed by the government? This money comes from poor students, many of whom are orphans,” he said.

He also questioned the N850 million spent on security, cleaning, and fumigation, and N600 million on local travels, challenging the justification for these expenses.

Further scrutiny was directed at the N6.5 billion allocated for local training and N1 billion for a staff housing scheme. Oshiomhole called for a breakdown of these expenditures.

Meanwhile, the Senate expressed concern over the low remittances from MDAs in 2024, pointing to a significant gap between the revenue generated and amounts remitted to the federation account.

This was disclosed by Senator Sani Musa, the Chairman of the Joint Finance Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, during an interactive session on revenue projections by MDAs for 2025.

Musa highlighted the Senate’s deep concern over the significant gap between the substantial revenues accrued by these agencies and their consistently low remittances to the federation account.

He pointed out that this discrepancy hampers the government’s ability to fund critical infrastructure projects and social services, raising issues of inefficiency, mismanagement, and potential revenue leakages.