Reps panel: Late-night exams traumatised students — WAEC has never been this bad

The house of representatives committee on basic education and examination bodies has criticised the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

On Wednesday, there was widespread confusion across several examination centres in Nigeria as candidates sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) faced hours-long delays before writing the English Language paper.

At multiple locations, the test, scheduled to begin at 9am, did not commence until 11:45pm.

On Thursday, the committee summoned WAEC to appear on Friday to explain the snafu and other irregularities.

On Friday, Ambrose Okelezo, senior assistant registrar and zonal coordinator, appeared before the committee to represent Amos Dangut, head of the national office, who said he would not be available until Monday.

The committee members rejected the representative, insisting that Dangut must face the panel in person.

Oforji Oboku, chairman of the committee, said the late night examination was “unpalatable and embarrassing”.

“In Jalingo, it was recorded that the examination started at about midnight. The emotional trauma these children went through can best be imagined,” he said.

“As stakeholders, we owe the public a duty of care, and we must not leave any stone unturned to prevent a recurrence.

“This committee demands to know the immediate and remote causes of this anomaly, which is why this invitation is urgent. Parents and Nigerians need to know why their children’s lives were endangered.

“It is expected that WAEC, as a body, lives up to its responsibility of organising these examinations with high standards, diligence and proper duty of care.

“There must not be an excuse, after all, monies were appropriated for the conduct of the examinations by parliament.”

Awaji-Inombek Abiante, a member of the committee, said Okelezo is “not competent” to address the committee.

“He is not competent to speak to us because there is a myriad of issues, ranging from the fact that people in my village, where the government has never remembered, there is no house in my village that has electricity, but students had to write exams up to 1 am,” he said.

Abiante said he received several distress calls from his constituents over the midnight examination.

“You have failed. I don’t know why in a country of over 200 million Nigerians, the government cannot have competent hands to handle simple issues,” he added.

“I don’t know where they got this incompetence from. It’s either a glitch from INEC or from JAMB. Should we call this a glitch from WAEC?”

Also expressing displeasure over the conduct of the examination, Billy Osawaru, a committee member, described the incident as a “national embarrassment” and urged the committee not to treat the matter lightly.

Oboku appealed to the committee members to remain calm, noting that the head of the WAEC national office will appear before them on Monday.

“Nigerians are interested in what led to this very unfortunate incident because it has never been so bad. Nigerians are interested,” he said.

“All of us are aware of the trauma our children went through. But we should not be emotional. It is very painful but we should look at the issues and tackle them.”

Oboku subsequently ruled that Dangut should appear before the committee on Monday.