The House of Representatives has resolved to beam its searchlights on the authorities of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board over alleged discrepancies in the remittances of funds to the Federal treasury.
Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education, Hon Oboku Abonsizibe Oforji, explained that the decision followed noticeable gaps in the accounts of the examination body and those of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGoF).
The Bayelsa State lawmaker argued that the initiative is aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in the education sector.
The JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, who appeared before the committee on Wednesday, explained that his outfit 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 N7.8billion, and followed it up with N5.2billion, N3.68billion, N3.82billion, N3.5billion and N3.1billion in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Oloyede further told the lawmakers that JAMB under his stewardship generated internal revenue of N13.33billion, N11.35billion, N9.74billion and N12.62billion respectively in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
However, discrepancy ot 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.
Nevertheless, the JAMB boss 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 is 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 affected our revenue for capital projects,” he said.
A member of the committee – Oyedeji Oyeshina (PDP, Oyo) – pointed out that JAMB’s revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation had reduced since 2019.
But 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 N3,500, adding that the Federal government had started 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.