The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has criticized the misrepresentation of figures in the 2025 budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Abuja, Oloyede refuted allegations that JAMB spent exorbitantly on fumigation, meals, and other items in 2024, dismissing such reports as inaccurate.
He clarified that JAMB’s total expenditure on fumigation across all states in 2024 was less than N1 million. According to him, the figures under scrutiny were part of the 2025 budget proposal, not a report on the Board’s 2024 expenditures.
Oloyede stated: “I want to say emphatically, without any iota of doubt, that I never presented any budget performance of 2024 before the National Assembly yesterday. I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding.
“I did not talk about the 2024 budget performance. And we did not spend any money, any humongous money in 2024.
“Indeed, what we spent on fumigation in the whole state of the Federation, all offices in 2024, [was] not up to N1million. And what we budgeted for 2025 for fumigation is less than N2 million.”
He explained that confusion arose because the detailed breakdown of the budget proposal had not been fully reviewed during the presentation.
Responding to reports of N6.5 billion allegedly spent on training in 2024, Oloyede clarified that the amount was part of the 2025 proposal and encompassed various budget lines. He noted that this included expenses for monitoring examinations, admission-related activities, e-facility payments, and awards for top-performing higher education institutions.
“We have 10,500 examiners and invigilators going to conduct both the mock and the UTME. Some of them stay for 10 days.
“I do not determine their DTA. It’s the government that determines the DTA to be paid to them. So what offence have I committed in putting their claims together?” he questioned.
On the alleged excessive expenditure on meals, Oloyede explained: “Everybody knows that at the JAMB headquarters, we provide lunch for those in the headquarters. And we provide this lunch for them, partly because we don’t want our system to be destroyed apart from the fact that there are security reasons for not allowing people going in and coming out.
“You also know that we have some ICT infrastructure that will be damaged if we allow people to bring food and remnants.
“So, we created the canteen and we provide for them. So, we are now saying for 2025, we should provide for 2,300. 2,300 times 22 days, times 12 months, what will it be if not over N1 billion?”
He also addressed calls for a reduction in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) fee, stating that it had already been reduced from N5,000 to N3,500.
“This is the least paid anywhere in the world for any admission unless you want it to be given free. And we can assure you, if we are given a fair opportunity to explain, Nigerians will know that I, Ishaq Oloyede, would not misappropriate or misuse money,” he said.
Oloyede rejected claims of misrepresented figures for cleaners and security personnel in the budget.
“In all the states of the federation, we have 580 security men and cleaners. Where would their salaries come from?
“The increase in minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 will also lead to an increase in their budgetary provision,” he explained.
Despite the misunderstandings, Oloyede expressed optimism that the National Assembly committee would give him an opportunity to clarify the budget further and resolve the controversies.
