JAMB target N23.8bn revenue, increases UTME centres to 1,000

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced a target of N23.8 billion in internally generated revenue for the 2026 fiscal year, representing a N4 billion increase over its 2025 projection.

The announcement was made on Wednesday during a presentation of JAMB’s 2026 budget estimates to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund.

The presentation was made by Dr Muftau Bello, a Director in the office of the Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede.

Providing a breakdown of the proposal, the JAMB representative disclosed that N6bn from the projected revenue would be remitted to the Federation Account as operating surplus.

“A total of N30.6bn budget profile is proposed by JAMB in 2026 out of which N23.8bn is to be generated internally and N6bollion to be remitted into the federation account as operating surplus for the year,” he said.

The agency also gave an account of its 2025 budget performance, informing the committee chaired by Senator Muntari Dandutse that it generated N18.5bn as IGR during the fiscal year and remitted N4bn to the Federation Account as operating surplus.

On preparations for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the director disclosed that 1,000 examination centres had been created across the country, significantly higher than the fewer than 800 centres utilised in 2025.

The expansion, he explained, is aimed at improving access and easing logistics for candidates nationwide.

Impressed by the board’s financial performance and operational expansion under the leadership of Oloyede, members of the committee commended the examination body and gave it a pass mark.

However, Senator Yohanna Amos (Adamawa North) urged the board to further reduce its examination fee, currently pegged at N3,500.

Responding, the director noted that the fee had previously been N5,000 before the current registrar reduced it to N3,500.