JAMB Seeks Autonomy, Seeks Increase In Exam Fee

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB has urged the House of Representatives’ Finance Committee to grant it financial autonomy by removing it from the list of Federal Government ministries, departments, and agencies in the annual budget.

This comes as JAMB has called for a reversal of the recent examination fee reduction from N5,000 to N3,500.

The Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja during a public hearing on the finance committee’s proposed 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

However, Oloyede stated that there are conditions that must be met before JAMB is removed from the annual budget.

One of the conditions, he claims, is that the Board be allowed to increase the examination fees.

The Registrar recalled that in 2017, JAMB conducted a downward review after receiving N7.5 billion in revenue.

He mentioned that the registration fee had been reduced from N5,000 to N3,500. Given the current economic realities, he believes the government should allow JAMB to revert to N5,000 and be autonomous.

Except for Finland, he claimed that no other country charges as little as Nigeria. He emphasized that no country fully funds such an examination body.

“There is nowhere in the government that funds this type of examination,” Oloyede said. They actually provide some assistance to the institution because students pay a token as a registration fee; from this, they bear the responsibility of salaries and provide some assistance.

“We are comfortable to be taken off the budget but there are conditions. One of the conditions, for example, when students registered in 2016, we collected N5,000 and that had been on for five years before I joined (JAMB).

“When we came in, we remitted N7.5bn. We felt it was too much and approached the Federal Government to reduce the fees. We have not added a kobo since.

“I believe we should revert to the N5000 we were charging. Given the inflation, if we charge N10,000 – I am just giving it as example – nobody will ask the federal government for one kobo.

“I am not aware of anywhere in the world, except maybe Finland— that charges as low as JAMB is charging. In Finland, we know that everything is free.

“We are hearing that you are planning to borrow billions. We are all going to sink at the end of the day. If there is any way anybody believes he can save this country, we should start doing that. The earlier we start the better for us.”

The committee’s Deputy Chairman, Saidu Abdulahi, expressed concern about the impact of Oloyede’s proposal on Nigerians’ disposable income.

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