Fabian Benjamin, the head, public affairs of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has stated that there is no going back in the board’s practice of remitting its operating surpluses to the government.
Benjamin said in a statement to the media in Abuja on Monday, November 8, 2021 that the remittances were in line with global best practice and that the board would continue its practice of remitting the constitutionally-mandated proportion of its operational surpluses, in line with extant government’s directive on the remittances.
“It is a known fact that all unutilised funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) should be returned to the public treasury,” he said.
The JAMB image maker said that the board and public-spirited citizens of Nigeria could not understand why the various campaigns of calumny were mounted by some individuals who feel that these remittances should not be made.
“The board reiterates that it is not within the powers of MDAs to determine the uses for which the remitted funds are put to.
“Theirs is to comply with extant directive while those given the mandate to manage the national treasury have the responsibility of appropriating and channeling such remittances.
Read also: 2021 UTME: JAMB remits N3.51bn to FG
“This is in the overall interest of the public, to identify areas of need or rather whichever area of the national economy that they perceive to be in most need of resources,” he said.
JAMB made its first landmark remittance in the board’s historic 40 years of existence in 2017. The Is-haq Oloyede led board could not hold back the fund because of its belief in obeying laid-down rules.
“It might interest these armchair critics that a direct fallout of the remittances was the decision of the Federal Government to reduce the cost of the purchase of the e-pin from N5,000 to N3,500, the cheapest globally.
“It is a truism in policymaking that certain trends should be observed over a period of time before policy pronouncements are made,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin explained that the cost of obtaining the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or the Direct Entry (DE) e-pin in Nigeria is the lowest globally.
He reiterated that the low cost of obtaining the board’s application documents would be manifest if a comparison was made with similar examinations like IELTS where Nigerians pay as high as N80,000 to enroll.
