ENIOLA AKINKUOTU

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arraign some officials for allegedly diverting nearly N100m belonging to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

Among the officials to be arraigned is Philomina Chieshe of the Makurdi office of JAMB who claimed that a snake swallowed N36m which was part of the proceeds of the sale of scratch cards.

Also to be arraigned is her coordinator, Mr. Samuel Umoru, who, according to  Chieshe, instructed her to divert the funds.

Others to be arraigned include Tanko Labaran, the clerk in Nasarawa State office of JAMB who could not account for scratch cards worth N23m; and the officer in charge of the Kano office of the board, Yakubu Jakada, for his inability to account for e-facilities cards valued at N20m sold through an agent in one of the banks.

Some officials of the Gombe office are also expected to be arraigned.

A source at the EFCC said, “We have concluded investigations into the officials and they will be arraigned very soon.”

The EFCC source said Chieshe, who is a clerk in the Makurdi office of JAMB, revealed that the coordinator usually asked her to withdraw proceeds of the sale of the cards from her account in two banks.

The source explained that before the introduction of Treasury Single Accounts, the practice was that JAMB officials kept the proceeds of the sale of cards in unauthorised bank accounts which led to the loss of billions of naira.

In the statement she made to the EFCC under oath, Chieshe said, “I withdrew this money (from the bank and) the coordinator used it for the office and some time for himself (sic).”

She claimed that she had been warning her supervisor that it was improper to spend the (JAMB) money on miscellaneous expenses in the office or for private purposes but that he would not listen.

The suspect also claimed that Umoru was in the habit of drawing IOUs from the proceeds of the sale of the cards without reimbursing her.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had said JAMB, for the first time, remitted N5bn to the government’s coffers with a promise to pay the balance of N3bn compared to maximum N3m remitted yearly in the last 40 years.

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