Unbelievable :JAMB official makes U-turn, says N36m ‘collected by superior’ and not snake - Risingsuntv

By Chinedu Asadu

Philomina Chieshe, the official of the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board (JAMB), who claimed that the
board’s N36 million was swallowed by a snake, has made
a U-turn.

Chieshe, who works as a clerk at the JAMB office in
Markurdi, Benue state, had told top officials of the
examination body that a “mysterious snake” swallowed
the money derived from the sale of JAMB scratch cards.






But when she appeared before the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), she confessed that
the money was collected by one Samuel Umoru, her
superior.

.

According to The Nation, the EFCC has interrogated
Chieshe on several occasions since she made the
ridiculous statement in February.

“The interesting aspect of the disclosure is that Chieshe’s
statement (on snake swallowing the money) was
obtained long before the snake and naira swallowing
testimony became public knowledge,” an EFCC official
was quoted as saying.

“In all her statements before the EFCC, there was no
mention of any episode of any snake and the
disappearance of monies in her care.”






“In a fact-sheet regarding the investigations, Chieshe was
quoted to have said her superior — the coordinator at the
Markurdi office — had asked her to withdraw the N36
million.”

According to the newspaper, the fact-sheet notes that
“contrary to her claim before the leadership of the
examination body that the N36 million proceeds from sale
of scratch cards were eaten up by a snake, Chieshe told
operatives of the anti-graft agency that the money was
collected piecemeal from her by her coordinator, Mr.
Samuel Sale Umoru.






“In one of the statements she volunteered to the EFCC,
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 scratch cards from
her account in two new generation banks — ‘this money I
withdrew, the coordinator used it for the office and some
time for himself.”

It also quoted her as saying she had been warning Umoru
“that it was improper to use the money for miscellaneous
expenses in the office or for private purposes but he
would not listen.”






The fact-sheet added that the coordinator did not deny
the allegations and had been released on administrative
bail.

It listed other JAMB officials being probed to include
Tanko Labaran, who could not account for N23 million
from sale of scratch cards at the Nasarawa office, and
Yakubu Jakada who is yet to explain the whereabouts of
N20 million e-facilities cards sold in Kano office.






The suspects are said to have been released on bail
pending the conclusion of investigation.