WAEC Withholds Results Of Candidates From Eight States, Cites Debt

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) withheld the results of students from eight states of the federation who took the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) due to the governments’ debts to the Council.

This information was given by the Head of National Office, Mr. Patrick Areghan, at a press conference on Monday in Lagos, while he spoke to the media about the release of the results of the examination concluded 44 days ago.

The HNO cited Zamfara and Niger as the top debtors while expressing hope that some of the afflicted nations will soon make their payments. But he declined to name the other states. Although Areghan did not specify how much each state owes individually or collectively, it is believed to be hundreds of millions of naira.

Areghan said, “However, Zamfara and Niger states are the highest debtors. Again, Zamfara did not present any candidate for this year’s WASSCE.”

He went on to say, “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.”

He said that via technical innovation, which resulted in the publication of more than 91 percent of candidate results, the Council was able to overcome problems with insecurity and monetary policy, among others.

In total, 1,613,733 candidates took the exam. Of those, 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% of the total) received a credit or higher in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

Areghan stated, “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, one day short of the existing template, the result is being released

“The Council in Nigeria has not rested on its oars, it has rebuilt, reinvented, strengthened, and modernised its product and service delivery to all stakeholders and has continued to prioritize the use of technology in most of its operations to enhance the quality of its service delivery. This has positively impacted the prompt release of the result in focus, despite all the inconveniences encountered on the field such as insecurity, non-adherence to registration deadlines, financial issues, inflation, and rogue website operators.

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

Areghan stated that 794,280 men and 819,453 women made up the total number of applicants, representing 49.22% and 50.78%, respectively.

He stated that 137,168 candidates, or 8.5% of the total, had some of their topics still being processed as a consequence of certain errors, but assured them that they will receive their complete results in a short period of time.

He also announced that the candidates for the 2023 WASSCE can get their results and certificates at the same time, saying, “I am happy to announce that candidates who sat for the 2023 WASSCE and have no pending issue can access their results, including their certificates simultaneously.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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