The House of Representatives has ordered the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to remit N3.602 billion to the Federal Government Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, gave the order during an investigative hearing in Abuja.
Mr Salam said that the remittance demanded by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) was not one that is subject to personal interpretation.
He said that it was a matter of law or regulation, and had nothing to do with the difference between the 25 percent and 50 percent as argued by JAMB.
The committee unanimously ordered JAMB to pay the sum to FRC and provide evidence of the remittance within 30 days.
Recall that the FRC had dragged JAMB before the committee over an unremitted operating surplus.
The representative of FRC, Bello Aliyu said that as of 2021, and in agreement with the record submitted to the Committee, the liabilities were N390.725 million.
According to him, after the submission of that report, JAMB has submitted their 2022 audited financial statement; we have computed the liabilities and duly informed them.
“The new liability as of 2022 is N3.602 billion. This we have notified them via our letter written on March 14, 2024, and another reminder, which we just submitted as of August 31, 2024.
“There was no response to the letter from the board,” he said.
However, reacting to the allegation, Mufutau Bello, the Director of Finance and Administration at JAMB, said that the difference in remittances figure was that FRC wanted to move the board to 50 percent of revenue.
“As an organisation in 2019, because of our commitment to revenue remittance, the Federal Government reduced the cost of our registration from N5,000 to N3,500.
“This, according to him, is for the benefit of all Nigerians, as we have been following with passion a remittance of 25 percent annually and we are in the education sector.
“We have not increased any of our charges in the last 8 years; rather, we reduced the fee from N5,000 to N3,500, which is 30 percent of our revenue.
“The Accountant-General always gives us the concession to operate 25 per cent of remittances,” Mr Bello said.
He said that the FRC believed that the board should move to 50 per cent, as against the 25 per cent concession given by the Office of the Accountant General, which is the area of difference.
“If you judge us on 25 per cent, we have over-remitted over the years, and that’s what we have been doing,” he said.
