By Maryam Abeeb
The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education has commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for ensuring transparency in all its financial transactions and other activities.
The committee, chaired by Hon. Oforji Oboku, gave the commendation in Abuja at an interactive session with the management of JAMB and representative of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).
The lawmakers which were presented a 392-page document by JAMB, that contains audited accounts from 2019 to 2022, procurements details, budget performance, evidence of remittances, among others, expressed delight on the level of transparency exhibited by the exam body.
“I must commend the entire management (of JAMB). We know what records said before they assumed office, we know what records is saying now. The transparency efforts of the organisation, the changes we have seen in revenue, the remittances,…. JAMB, we still say kudos to you,” a member of the committee, Sina Oyedeji, said.
The committee, which also received presentation of the Board’s financial records from the AGF’s representative, Anum Lucy, however, set up a “unit committee” to find out reasons for the little discrepancies observed in the financial records presented by JAMB and that of the Accountant General Office.
Responding to some of the issues raised, JAMB registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, likened some of the discrepancies to payments’ charges that were not recorded by the Accountant General Office.
“For example, when we paid N10, we report N10 but the portal through which the payment was made will deduct charges and record the net.
“While we record the gross, they are recording the net and this account for those discrepancies. That is why reconciliation is necessary,” he said.
Oloyede, who said JAMB has been making remittances to Federal Government’s coffers since 2017, revealed that the exam body does not receive allocations for capital projects and overhead from the national budget.
