Yemisi Izuora
The Federal Government has fixed new fees for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and National Examination Council (NECO) registration and examination.
Under the new regime applicants will pay N3,500 as JAMB examination fees against the previous fees N5,000 and N9,850 for Senior Secondary Certificate examination SSCE, which is handled by NECO from the current N11,350 being paid.
The sum of N4,000 instead of N5,500 will be paid for Basic Education Certificate which is also handled by NECO.
The new reductions were announced by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
FEC also approved N14.7 billion, to be funded by the contractor, for new Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, travel certificates.
The new certificate will now carry security features like the picture and fingerprints of the holder.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau said the current certificate has no security features and could be easily forged by anybody.
Noting that the new project is for the security of the Nigerian borders, he said that the agreement for the contract would be signed at a later date.
He said that the contract is for ten years and that 13 million cards will be produced within the period.
The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Hassan said that N3.4 billion was approved for furnishing of three Federal Secretariat complex in Anambra, Zamfara and Bayelsa states and N331. 2 billion for rehabilitation of some bridges in the north east.