Million Naira Debts: WAEC withholds results of candidates from 8 states

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of students from eight states in the country who took the WASSCE in 2023 due to the states’ debt to the council. This information was provided at a press conference on Monday in Lagos by the head of the national office, Mr. Patrick Areghan, who was discussing the results of the exam that was completed 44 days earlier.

The HNO listed Zamfara and Niger as the highest debtors, but expressed confidence that some of the impacted states would pay up soon. The remaining states, however, were not mentioned by him.

Although Areghan did not specify how much each state owes individually or collectively, it is believed to be hundreds of millions of naira.

“The highest debtor states, however, are Zamfara and Niger. Once more, Zamfara did not submit a candidate for this year’s WASSCE, according to Areghan.

He added, “Candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can access their results on the Council’s website: www.waecdirect.org. After accessing their results, candidates can visit www.waec.org to confirm, share and download digital copies of their certificates! Copies of the Result Listing will be sent to schools shortly.

“I need to restate that the results of candidates sponsored by states indebted to the Council will not be released now until they pay up. We appeal to them to do so to enable the affected schools/candidates to access their results.”

Using technological innovation, he claimed, which resulted in the release of more than 91% of election results, the council was able to overcome problems with insecurity and cash policy, among others.

He stated that out of the 1,613,733 candidates who took the exam, 1,361,608 candidates (or 84.38%) received a credit or higher in at least five subjects, while 1,287,920 candidates (or 79.81%) received a credit or higher in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“The conduct of WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023 ended on June 23, 2023, and today, Monday, August 7, 2023, 44 days after the conduct of the last paper and one day short of the existing template, the result is being released.

“This has positively impacted the timely release of the focused result, despite all the difficulties encountered on the ground, such as insecurity, failure to adhere to registration deadlines, financial difficulties, inflation, and dishonest website operators.

“Today, I am happy to inform you that all the processes leading to the release of the 2023 results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, for School Candidates, in Nigeria, have been completed,” he said.