Leakages, compromises, logistics challenges caused late night examination, WAEC tells Reps committee
The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) said on Monday that compromises, leakages of its English Language paper and various other challenges led to the late conduct of the examinations, leading to some candidates taking the examination late into the night in some states.
Head of the National Office of the Council, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut who disclosed this at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies, said it discovered the compromises and leakages three days before the commencement of the examination and tried to put things in order, but faced daunting challenges.
The WAEC officials had failed to appear before the Committee on Friday to explain the circumstances leading to the problems encountered by candidates across the nation during the examination conducted by WAEC.
He told the Committee that the compromises led to the challenges faced because a lot of things “went wrong”.
Dangut said the organisation also encountered some logistics challenges while conveying replacements for the leaked papers as vehicles conveying the papers to places like Taraba brokedown while some were not allowed to pass through some communities.
Dr Dangut, however, apologised for his non-appearance, saying that his absence was not deliberate or disregard for the parliament but was necessitated by the circumstances needing his attention at the time.
A member of the Committee, Dagomie Abiante (PDP, Rivers), engaged the WAEC official in a question-and-answer session. Session queried the sincerity of the examination body in not taking appropriate measures when it discovered the leak, adding that the students were kept through the night to take the exams.
Abiante said the examination body and indeed the country failed to take measures against such an occurrence, as done by other member states of the council
Chairman of the Committee, Oboku Oforji (PDP, Bayelsa) recalled that the committee had, during its sitting on the 30th of May, 2025 and demanded an explanation for the poor handling of the WAEC examinations, which has caused a huge public outcry and condemnation across the country.
He said, “This committee wants to know, parents and Nigerians want to know, we owe them a duty of care, and to whom much is given, much is expected. Monies were appropriated by Parliament for the conduct of these examinations.
“We are not trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer as a committee, but like I said in the last meeting, we need to know the immediate and remote causes of the woeful conduct of the examinations, and in doing this, we may forestall a future occurrence”.
