BREAKING NEWS: Oshiomhole tells JAMB that he can justify spending N850 million on cleaning and mosquito control.

JAMB’s contribution may be eliminated in future budgets, the MPs suggested, unless there are strong arguments for why the organization should continue to get government support.

Adams Oshiomhole, the senator from Edo North, has voiced reservations about the 2024 spending by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede was questioned by Oshiomhole at the agency’s 2025 budget defense session before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance on the N850 million spent on cleaning, fumigation, and security last year.

“You spent N1.1bn on meals and refreshments,” he said. Does the government provide you with free food? This implies that you are using the funds you receive from underprivileged pupils, many of whom are orphans. “You also spent N850m on security, cleaning, and fumigation in 2024,” he asked further. You fumigated what? Was all of this money stolen by mosquitoes? Oshiomhole also took issue with JAMB’s N600 million local travel expenditures.

Prof. Oloyede responded by revealing that JAMB received an N6 billion grant from the Federal Government in 2024 and sent N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Abiodun Faleke, the chairman of the House Committee on Finance, was spurred by this to wonder why a self-sufficient and revenue-generating organization should depend on federal funding: “You sent N4 billion and received N6 billion from the Federal Government. Why don’t we stop the government from funding JAMB and keep the N4 billion?” Legislators alluded to the prospect of eliminating JAMB’s funding in future budgets unless compelling arguments were made for its ongoing dependence on public support.