Senate, Rep vote to Remove JAMB from 2025 Budget

The Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives have made a landmark decision to remove the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the Federal Government's 2025 budget grant. This move comes amidst concerns over JAMB's financial management, particularly the discrepancy between its revenue and expenditures.

Lawmakers pointed out that JAMB remitted N4 billion to the federation account in 2024 but received N6 billion from the government. This raises questions about the rationale behind funding a self-sustaining agency with government grants. Abiodun Faleke, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, queried, "Why not keep the N4 billion and stop the government from funding JAMB?"

Furthermore, Senator Adams Oshiomhole criticized JAMB's excessive spending on meals and refreshments (N1.1 billion), security, cleaning, and fumigation (N850 million), and local travels (N600 million). He also called for a breakdown of the N6.5 billion allocated for local training and N1 billion for a staff housing scheme.

The Senate expressed concerns over the low remittances from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in 2024, highlighting a significant gap between revenue generated and amounts remitted to the federation account. This discrepancy hampers the government's ability to fund critical infrastructure projects and social services, raising issues of inefficiency, mismanagement, and potential revenue leakages.