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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

JAMB remits N50bn to FG in 10 years

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has remitted over N50 billion in operating surplus to the Nigerian Federal Government over the past decade.
  • JAMB's Public Communication Adviser clarified that the board is not primarily a revenue-generating agency but remits surplus as per regulations.
  • Technological innovations and cost-cutting measures under Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede enabled these savings, significantly reducing operational costs.

Nigeria's Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has remitted more than N50 billion to the Federal Government as operating surplus over the last 10 years, according to Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the board's Public Communication Adviser. Benjamin emphasized that JAMB's core function is not revenue generation but facilitating tertiary education admissions. The remittances are a regulatory requirement for government agencies to return excess operating funds.

There is an impression that JAMB has become a revenue-generating agency. It is not. JAMB is not a revenue-generating agency. But there is a regulation that every agency, whether revenue-generating or not, must remit a certain percentage of its excess surplus. What JAMB is doing is not out of place. It is part of the rule.

— Dr. Fabian BenjaminClarifying JAMB's role and the nature of its remittances to the Federal Government.

Speaking during a virtual dialogue organized by the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria, Benjamin explained that significant savings were achieved through technological advancements and stringent cost-cutting measures implemented during the tenure of Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede. These reforms have transformed the board's operations and enhanced the integrity of its examinations.

When Prof. Oloyede came in, we were mounting VSAT dishes in all examination centres and paying about N1.2bn for the exercise. He believed technology should enable the board to examine at a far lower cost.

— Dr. Fabian BenjaminExplaining the cost-saving impact of technological reforms under the current registrar.

Benjamin highlighted a key reform where JAMB replaced its Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology with telecommunication-based connectivity using SIM cards. This transition drastically reduced the cost of connectivity for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from approximately N1.2 billion to less than N100 million annually. Despite initial technical challenges, these innovations have strengthened JAMB's operational efficiency and financial management.

He invited the service providers to reduce the cost, but they declined. The board then adopted the use of telecom providers and SIM cards, which we still use today, bringing the cost down to less than N100m.

— Dr. Fabian BenjaminDetailing the specific technological shift that led to reduced operational expenses.
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Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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