The National Assembly witnessed heated drama during the 2025 budget defense session as Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North Senatorial District, took aim at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over its questionable 2024 expenditures.
Oshiomhole grilled JAMB’s registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, over the agency’s lavish spending. Oshiomhole zeroed in on the ₦850 million spent on security, cleaning, and fumigation, challenging the JAMB registrar to defend the spending, “You also spent ₦850 million on security, cleaning and fumigation in 2024. What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money?”
The former Edo State Governor went on to slam JAMB for allocating an eye-popping ₦1.1 billion to meals and refreshments.
“Are you being freely fed by the government? What this means is that you are spending the money you generate from poor students, many of them orphans,” he declared, adding moral weight to his criticism.
Lawmakers Outraged Over Lavish Spending
However, things didn’t end with meals and fumigation. JAMB disclosed it spent ₦600 million on local travel, further fueling lawmakers’ outrage. This raised critical questions about the agency’s financial prudence, especially given its role as a revenue-generating entity.
Although the Registrar defended that it remitted ₦4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and receiving ₦6 billion in federal grants in 2024, it was not enough to cover for its ludicrous spending.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Abiodun Faleke, echoed Oshiomhole’s concerns, questioning why a supposedly self-sustaining agency relied on government allocations. Faleke hinted that lawmakers might recommend scrapping JAMB’s federal funding if it fails to justify its expenditures.
Why it Matters
JAMB’s spending habits are a glaring example of fiscal mismanagement within government agencies. At a time when millions of Nigerians struggle to afford the cost of education, such wasteful expenditures are unacceptable. The agency generates significant revenue from students, many of whom face immense financial hardships yet appears to misuse these funds on unnecessary luxuries.
This recklessness underlines the need for stricter oversight of government budgets. The lawmakers’ move to hold JAMB accountable is not only commendable but also necessary to ensure public funds are directed toward meaningful development rather than squandered on frivolities.
Bottom Line
JAMB must provide a convincing justification for its expenditures or face the possibility of losing government allocations in future budgets. This is a wake-up call for all government agencies: fiscal discipline is not optional. The era of unchecked extravagance is over, and public accountability must take center stage.
