The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB) has justified its allocation of N1.1bn for staff feeding in its 2025 budget proposal.
Recall that the JAMB and the National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance were at loggerheads over the Board’s 2025 budget proposal.
The Committee had threatened to cut off the Federal Government’s grant to JAMB, accusing it of excessive spending.
However, defending the proposal, JAMB spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin in a statement on Tuesday, stated that the one-day-per-meal provision for its staff was in recognition of the sensitive responsibilities of JAMB staff.
Benjamin explained further that the meals were provided to minimise the staff’s exposure to the public during working hours and avoid the danger that eating in the offices posed to ICT infrastructure.
“Among the items included in the 2025 budget proposal is the provision of one meal per day for the 2,300 staff members (cleaners/security inclusive) of the Board nationwide, covering all working days throughout the year.
“Over the past two years, the cost of providing this meal for headquarters staff (on the 2 offices in the Board) was N1,200 per day, per staff.
“However, due to rising food prices, vendors have requested an increase to N2,200 (including 13.5% taxes).
“Based on this new price, the total cost for providing meals for 2,300 staff members throughout the working days in 2025 is projected to be N1.27 billion.
“Nevertheless, JAMB has budgeted N1.1 billion for this purpose,” he said.
Benjamin clarified that the Board solely presented the 2025 budget proposal, adding that claims regarding humongous spending in 2024 on meals or fumigation, security and cleaning by the Committee were totally unfounded.
“During this session there was no presentation of any 2024 expenditure of N1.1 billion for feeding or N850 million for fumigation,” he said.
While explaining the N850m earmarked for the emolument of outsourced cleaners, security personnel, cleaning materials, fumigation services and tax, Benjamin stated that in compliance with government policy on outsourcing, JAMB has engaged firms and agencies that provide 386 security personnel and 194 cleaners across its over forty offices and PTC centres nationwide.
“The N850 million proposed in the budget proposal covers running and operational costs, with only N2 million specifically earmarked for fumigation services for the year. (It was less than N1million in 2024).
“This budget reflects the recent salary review mandated by the government, and it is misleading to suggest that a meaningful portion of the budget is solely dedicated to fumigation when the least paid of the security men earns the minimum pay of N30, 000.00 which is now projected to be N70, 000.00 while cleaners pay would be at least doubled,” he said.
He noted that all capital, overhead, and operational costs of the Board were met from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Board while the government covers the salaries of only pensionable JAMB staff.
“Additionally, clarification is needed regarding the N6.4 billion proposed for “Local Travel and Transport (Training)” for the over 10,500 staff and other officials to be assigned to conduct the 2025 UTME- mock examination and other engagements. The template provided for Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) mandates that all expenditures peculiar to JAMB be categorized under this heading. The Board is not allowed to create any other heading.
“As a Government Owned Enterprise, JAMB is compelled to comply with the Budget Information Management Monitoring System (BIMMS) for GOEs and that explains why the amount was lumped under the heading but with asterisk and details provided on the succeeding page of the submission which the Board was disallowed to explain.
“JAMB remains committed to managing its resources prudently, aligning with the requirements and expectations of the nation’s leadership,” he said.