There are
strong indications that many officials of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) found culpable in the misappropriation of public
funds in their care will have their appointments terminated.
An audit team recently discovered that
millions of naira generated from the sale of scratch cards to candidates that
sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) could not be
accounted for in several state offices.
A senior
official of JAMB said investigators were not satisfied with explanations
offered by some state coordinators and a clerk involved in the matter and thus,
recommended the termination of their jobs.
The official said the monies in
question, running into millions of naira, were realised from the sale of
scratch cards between 2014 and 16.
The official said all these happened
when the Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, was not at the helm.
He said Prof Ishaq “is running the
most transparent administration, and any official involved in any dishonest
transaction will have himself to blame,” he said.
JAMB spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin,
said those found guilty in the shoddy deals might lose their jobs and also face
prosecution. He confirmed that officers involved in the inquiry were mostly
state coordinators and a clerk.
A clerk attached to the board’s office
in Benue State had reportedly told investigators that the sum of N36m was
ingested by a “mysterious snake” which investigators said they had not seen.
In Ondo State, N1.3m is said to be
missing. In the Edo State office, N31m was discovered missing, while in Kogi
State, auditors failed to trace the whereabouts of N7m.
In Plateau State, some officials were
said to have mismanaged about N16m and in Nasarawa State, N23m was discovered
missing.
About N20m was missing in the Kano
State office and in the Yobe office N613, 000 was confirmed missing. In Gombe
State, N10.2m has not been accounted for.
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