- Prof Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, has visited the JAMB HQ, and asked for clarification over the N36m reportedly swallowed by a snake
- Sagay also congratulated the board’s registrar over recent remittances to the federal govt, and sought to find out areas of challenge he may be having
- The JAMB registrar lamented over the fact that serious issues were now being trivialized; but assured the committee that he was working hard to maintain the credibility of the board
Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay, has sought clarification from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), over the alleged N36m cash of the board said to be swallowed by a snake, Tribune reports.
Sagay sought the clarification as the committee visited the JAMB headquarters on Wednesday, April 11
Emiratco gathers that Sagay also commended the JAMB registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, over what he described as the board’s “geometric increase” in remittance to the coffers of the federal government.
JAMB had previously explained that the alleged fraud was committed before Oloyede’s administration. According to the board, it had been discovered when the registrar embarked on a tour of the board’s state office at the inception of his tenure, to find out their actual financial standing.
The huge financial discrepancies had caused the registrar to introduce reforms; including ending the use of scratch cards.
Commending Oloyede for his integrity, Sagay stated: “We also wish to congratulate you for what I will call the geometric increase in remittance to the federal government of Nigeria.
“We are not surprised. You have a name that has gone before you and we know that nowhere will you be operating in which there will not be events which will show that you have maintained your outstanding character and integrity.
“We are here basically to learn more about JAMB. What are your problems, what are your challenges and also to offer our help if required in any respect within our competence?
“We are also curious about some other things; for example, as I said, what challenges do you still have? I remember in some time past, it used to be commonly believed that if you do JAMB examination, a different result would be prepared for you and score high marks; and you go to the university, only to underperform. We want to know if this problem has been eliminated.
“Also, we read recently of some members of staff of JAMB at a lower level who accumulated a lot of cash and did not properly account for it, leading them to make very absurd defences, which has created a lot of fun nationwide.
“We want to know what steps are being taken to ensure that monies realized from your work are now maintained in a guaranteed fashion that people do not have the opportunity to abuse it.
“We also want to know if there are any issues militating against the JAMB system and in what way can we help promote the excellent work that you are doing."
In response, Prof Oloyede lamented over the fact that serious issues were now being trivialized, especially the “crazy talk” about a snake swallowing JAMB money.
He stated that since taking over, he had worked hard to maintain the board’s credibility and reliability.
He said: “Since I came here, nobody has called me to do any wrong thing. I have never seen anybody who will call me and say, somebody has done what is wrong don’t allow it to go.
“People who have authority over me have been the people who are even calling me to strengthen what I am doing. Whereas my fear when I came here was that I was not going to stay long because what we used to peddle in the university is that these politicians will be intervening in one’s activities.
“So, I had made up my mind that if they call me to do what I am not supposed to do, I will go. On no occasion, any of my superiors has called me for any such thing. The minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu is more puritanical than me in his worldview and not talk of people higher than him."
Meanwhile,emiratco previously reported that following the missing N36 million from the office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, its registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, slammed Nigerians that had been making jokes with it.
Philomena Chieshe, a sales clerk in JAMB office, Makurdi, had claimed that her housemaid connived with another JAMB staff, Joan Asen to "spiritually" swallow N36 million from the vault in her office.
During interrogation by a team of auditors, she claimed that Asen and her accomplices confessed that they had been stealing the money spiritually through a mysterious snake that always sneaked to swallow the money from the vault.
Nigerians react as snake reportedly swallows N36 million - on
Sagay committee seeks clarification from JAMB over ‘money-swallowing snake’
