BY Taiwo George
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 118,101 candidates that participated in the May/June 2015 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
Charles Eguridu, head of WAEC national office, attributed the development to the refusal of 13 state governments – which sponsored the candidates – to pay registration fees of about N4 billion.
The examination body had earlier threatened to withhold the result of 19 states but at a press conference in Lagos on Monday, Eguridu said six of the states have fulfilled their obligations.
“I alerted the nation on the challenges which the council was facing in Nigeria as a result of this indebtedness, and its adverse effects on our operations. I had stated then that the council may be constrained from releasing the results of government-sponsored candidates of the affected states,” he said.
“After my pronouncement, a few of the debtor states responded by paying their debts fully or partially; while a few others made promises, indicating their willingness to pay as soon as they are able to do so. Others have not made any efforts in addressing the matter.
“After reviewing the situation, the council has decided that the results of government-sponsored candidates of indebted states would be released if such states endeavour to produce bank guarantees, so that the council will be assured that the fees will be paid. ”
Speaking later on Channels Television, the head of the examination body maintained his position, saying despite the appeal of some governors, there is no going back on the decision.
“WAEC is not a charity organisation, we have the mandate to conduct final examinations for secondary schools in Nigeria, and in doing this, it is not the WAEC staffs that develop the papers and mark the scripts,” he said.
“We rely on teachers who are in the school system, to develop the paper and mark the script, and we do this at a fee, we pay them allowances. These teachers would not take any explanation from you if you don’t pay them.
“We have to pay huge hotel bills to accommodate supervisors and even our staff who go on field work. The printing of the papers themselves is another big issue, because we rely on security printing, we can’t just print our papers anywhere.
“We are talking in the region of over N4 billion, some two weeks ago, some states have tried, they’ve met their obligation. I remember a governor from one of the south western states announce with fanfare that he has paid, and I congratulate him for that.
“A number of states have reached out to me, the governors have been calling, appealing – this is not the period for receiving appeal.
“If the states concerned can make and provide WAEC with advance payment guarantee from reputable banks, then we would take it that they are ready and then we release the results.
“If they fail, I’m sorry, I’m not prepared to release the results.”
Eguridu did not list the affected states but disclosed that 1.5 million candidates sat for the examination.
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