N900m fraud: CACOL commends ICPC on arrests ex-JAMB Registrar, Prof Ojerinde  

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has commended the arrest of a former Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Dibu Ojerinde, by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly misappropriating N900 million.

CACOL’s Chairman, Debo Adeniran, in a statement by the  Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, declared: “It would be recalled that the former Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ojerinde, who was arrested on 15th March 2021, in Abuja, by operatives of ICPC, is alleged to have committed multiple frauds while heading JAMB and the National Examination Council (NECO). It was reported that Professor Ojerinde has been detained by the Commission for questioning over allegations of multiple identities, abuse of office, money laundering, tax evasion, and making false statements to public officials. The former JAMB boss is also being questioned by the Commission for allegedly awarding fraudulent contracts to shell companies that cannot be traced.

“It is on record that just last year the current management of JAMB announced that it has returned N3.5 billion to the Federation Account from the excess funds generated from its operations during the conduct of 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following the sales of ePINs to UTME candidates, bringing the total remittance that year by the board to N7 billion. What the former registrar couldn’t declare as surplus to the Government for four years was declared within one year of the new Registrar. Professor Ojerinde should tell Nigerians why JAMB was unprofitable during his time.

“We at CACOL, congratulate the ICPC for this bold move and we urge the staff of ICPC to carry out a thorough investigation of all the allegations leveled against the former registrar of JAMB followed by meticulous and diligent prosecution of this high-brow corruption case. This is a very laudable and cheering development, considering the multiplier and damaging effects of every strand of corruption case(s) on the psyche of our people especially the youth. It is even more devastating when the corrupt acts are committed by revered members of the academia who are supposed to be morally upright and serve as mentors that can be looked up to but unfortunately, they have soiled their reputation by betraying the trust and confidence the country reposed in them cheaply by engaging in unethical and corrupt practices.”