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The House of Representatives on Wednesday described as 'illegal," the post-Joint Admission and Matriculation Board tests being conducted by universities in the country.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday described as 'illegal," the post-Joint Admission and Matriculation Board tests being conducted by universities in the country.
It also asked the Minister of Education, Mrs. Chinwe Obaji, to rescind her directive to vice-chancellors who had earlier been told to go ahead with the exercise.
The House, after a heated debate on the issue on Wednesday, also resolved to ask universities that had conducted the post-JAMB screening to immediately refund the various sums paid by candidates.
Obaji is expected to receive the resolutions of the House on the matter on Thursday (today).
The resolution could compound the woes of some candidates who have already taken the tests in some tertiary institutions and offered admission on the basis of their performance.
At least five universities - the University of Lagos; the University of Jos; the Delta State University; the University of Benin; and the Federal University of Technology, Akure - have already administered the tests.
The Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, has scheduled its own tests for this weekend and is unlikely to back down.
The polytechnics have also indicated a strong interest in the tests.
Although the law setting up JAMB gives the body monopoly to organise examinations to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, the institutions have complained about the quality of the candidates who pass JAMB exams.
The resolutions by the House were made following a motion titled, 'Illegal admission examinations by Nigerian Universities," moved by the former Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Dr. Shehu Matazu.
In the motion that was co-sponsored by 33 other members, Matazu said the directive by the minister for universities to conduct fresh admission tests, violated the laws of the land.
He drew attention to Section 5 of the JAMB Act, 1989, which vests the power to conduct admission examinations to universities and other tertiary institutions on JAMB.
'Mr. Speaker," he said, 'JAMB has performed its function creditably since its establishment. The recent directive by the honourable Minister of Education to Nigerian Universities to conduct further admission tests is illegal and unfair to candidates and a burden to parents and guardians."
The House Leader, Alhaji Abdul Ningi, in his contribution said Obaji's directive was a flagrant violation of the rule of law.
Said Ningi, 'The minister has violated the Act of the National Assembly. It is only Mr. President who could call for an amendment of the law by sending an appropriate bill to the National Assembly.
'The Minister of Education is not a parliament and has no right to amend any law of the land."
Mr. Francis Amadiegwu who said it was imperative for the House to curb the excesses of the minister, also condemned the criteria for the appointment of persons to positions of authority in the country.
He said the 'fees by university authorities for the post-JAMB tests amounted to extortion and should be condemned.
He urged the House to direct that the fees paid by candidates should be refunded.
'This illegal act must be stopped, it must be killed today and forever," he said.
Messrs Abdullahi Idris, Tidjani Kumali and Igochukwu Aguma, also condemned the minister's decision.
However, other members, led by Mr. Obeton Obeten, put up a counter argument to the motion, saying that Section 6 of the Act empowers the minister to advice the 'board" on issues relating to the admission of candidates into tertiary institutions.
This argument was rejected by other members who said that the section cited by Obeten was subject to the provision of Section 5 of the Act.
The Deputy Speaker, Chief Austin Opara, who presided over the session consequently put the motion to vote.
Those who supported the cancellation of the tests and the refund of fees to candidates carried the day.
Opara instructed the National Assembly secretariat to ensure that the resolutions of the House were communicated to Obaji by Thursday, without fail.
When contacted, the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Bello Salim, said he was not aware of the decision by the House on the post-JAMB test.
'I am hearing it from you. I am a civil servant. I do as I am directed. If you are in doubt of the powers of the House, consult the Constitution," he added.
Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria - Prof Itse Sagay and Tayo Oyetibo - however said the House lacked the power to wade into the post-JAMB test matter.
In separate interviews with our correspondents, they argued that the point at issue was the autonomy of the councils of the universities.
'Post- Jamb tests and the fees are matters of administrative control of the councils of the universities," Sagay said.
In his own comment Oyetibo said, "The matter is not for legislation. It is simply a matter within the portfolio of the executive arm of government through the Ministry of Education.
'Aggrieved citizens can, however, go to court to challenge the decisions of the councils of the universities."
The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo Univesity, Prof. Afolabi Soyode, said he was hearing the news for the first time, adding that the university had scheduled its own post-JAMB test for Friday and Saturday.
Soyode said the university would wait for the official position.
Also, the Public Relations Officer of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Mr. Segun Afolabi, who spoke for the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rogers Makanjuola, said the House was not helping matters as the standard of education had been consistently falling.
But the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Sule Kano, said that though he was against the post-JAMB test, the House had no powers to issue such a directive.
He said what the universities were doing was illegal, but that the National Assembly could only legislate on the matter.
The Chef Press Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Tony Ohaeri, told our correspondents that he was not in a position to say whether the ministry will abide by the House position or not.
'It is an administrative issue. Appropriate decision of the resolution of the House will be taken when we are communicated."
The Federal Government had on September 13 bowed to the request of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors to screen admission seekers to determine their quality and the genuineness of their scores in the UME.
The request was granted on the conditions that the universities would not charge extra fees and that the short-listing for the screening would not be an all-comers affair.
The guidelines also stated that only candidates that had scaled the JAMB hurdle and selected by universities would be invited for the screening.
Candidates were, however, expected to pay a uniform but minimal screening fee to JAMB, which would in turn remit a percentage of the proceeds to the universities.
But the policy was mired in controversy shortly after the Federal University of Technology, Akure; and the University of Lagos, commenced its implementation.
At UNILAG, which administered the screening test on candidates in October, about 46,000 candidates invited for the screening paid N2,000 each.
Some of the students also bought change of course forms, when cut-off marks had not been determined.
At the University of Benin, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Emma Nwanze, said 38,000 candidates were short-listed for the exercise.
The PUNCH, Thursday, November 10, 2005