Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the National Association of Nigerian Students on Thursday condemned the conditions under which students in various parts of the country sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, calling the situation a “national disgrace” and demanding a resit of the affected examination paper.
Viral videos on Wednesday showed candidates sitting for the 2025 WASSCE English Language examination late at night without electricity, using lanterns and mobile phone flashlights.
A worse scenario played out at Government Secondary School, Namnai, in Taraba State, where candidates narrowly escaped being injured after their exam hall collapsed during a storm on Wednesday evening.
The West African Examinations Council attributed the delay in the conduct of the 2025 English Language paper on heightened efforts to curb examination malpractice, particularly the leakage of question papers.
In a Thursday statement, WAEC’s Acting Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, said measures taken to prevent paper leakage “inadvertently impacted the timeliness and seamless conduct of the examination.”
She cited logistical challenges, security concerns, and sociocultural issues as contributing factors.
But these explanations did little to assuage critics.
In a statement issued on Thursday following widespread reports of students writing their exams in dark and unfit environments across the country, Atiku expressed deep concern over what he termed a “damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.”
He wrote, “The recent report of students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in appallingly dark and unfit conditions across the country is nothing short of a national disgrace. That this outrage occurred just a day after the world marked International Children’s Day only deepens the shame.
“This is not merely an unfortunate incident — it is a damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.
“It is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and utterly indefensible that in 2025, our children are forced to write critical national exams in pitch darkness like second-class citizens.”
Atiku also demanded the retake of the affected examination paper in all affected centres, warning that anything less would be a “grave injustice to the students whose futures hang in the balance.”
Also, the National Association of Nigerian Students condemned WAEC for the delay, calling the shift of the exam from 4pm to 7pm “insensitive” and a “gross disregard for the safety and well-being” of candidates, especially in rural areas.
NANS also criticised WAEC’s internal security lapses, arguing that students should not be made to suffer for the body’s failure to prevent examination malpractices.
In a statement jointly signed by NANS Zone D coordinator, Owolewa Taiwo, and general secretary, Oluwole Olutunde, the students’ body decried the massive delay in the delivery of examination materials, which left thousands of candidates stranded and traumatised across several states.
According to the association, the paper scheduled for 2pm on Wednesday was not written until after 8pm in many centres, particularly Lagos and Osun states.
“Thousands of our students were stranded and subjected to mental trauma across examination centres in the Southwest region and other parts of the federation due to WAEC’s failure to deliver question papers on time. What was meant to be a 2:00p.m.examination turned into a nightmarish ordeal,” the statement read.
NANS described the situation as a gross violation of students’ rights and an endangerment of their safety.
“This is not just a delay, it is a blatant endangerment of students’ safety, a violation of their right to proper examination conditions, and an open assault on their future,” the statement added.
NANS alleged that in some centres, when the papers eventually arrived, students were forced to sit for the exams with torchlights.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies on Thursday gave the West African Examinations Council a 24-hour ultimatum to appear before it to address issues concerning the conduct of the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination.
The Chairman of the committee, Oboku Oforji, issued the ultimatum on Thursday following the examination body’s failure to honour an earlier invitation to appear before the panel.
Oforji, who represents Yenagoa/Opokuma Federal Constituency, Bayelsa State on behalf of the committee, invited WAEC to provide explanations over widespread complaints and irregularities observed in the ongoing school certificate examination.
In a statement on Thursday, Oforji recalled that the committee extended an invitation to WAEC on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, seeking clarification on various issues disrupting the conduct of the exams across the country.
He expressed disappointment at WAEC’s absence during the scheduled hearing on Thursday, May 29, describing it as unacceptable, given the scale of public outcry over the conduct of the exams.
“The examinations have been riddled with serious irregularities. We’ve received reports of students writing examinations as late as midnight in some centres across the country.
“The House felt it necessary to summon WAEC to explain these developments and the trauma candidates are currently facing. However, WAEC responded this morning, saying they couldn’t appear due to their involvement in the ongoing exams. Ironically, this is the very reason we are asking them to appear,” he said.
He warned that failure to honour the invitation would leave the committee with no other option but to invoke the constitutional powers of the House to ensure compliance.
“Our intention is not to witch-hunt WAEC but to seek answers that will calm public tension and prevent a recurrence of these challenges. WAEC has been conducting exams for decades, and we have never experienced this level of disorganisation.
“Something is clearly wrong, and it must be addressed. The committee has therefore resolved that WAEC must appear unfailingly on Friday, May 30, 2025, or face legislative sanctions in accordance with the powers vested in us by the Constitution,” he added.
Exam began late
A teacher at Community Secondary School located at Akpehe in Makurdi, Mr Smith Tyohum, said English Language exam had some glitches.
According to the teacher, the paper 11 of the English Language (theory) acommenced at about 5pm and lasted till 7pm.
Typhum said, “We were told that the paper arrived late from Enugu and we did not start until 5pm. What we did was to get fuel and power the generator to help the students finished the paper.”
Our correspondent learnt that the situation was even more precarious in the rural communities which don’t have power supply.
“We had to look for lamps and torch lights to be able to help the students conclude the exam,” a teacher told The PUNCH.
The state Commissioner for Education, Dr Frederick Ikyaan, said, “The ministry has a team that monitors the ongoing WAEC papers, they also went out yesterday (Wednesday) but due to the May 29 celebration I’m yet to get to office to get the report on what happened yesterday.”
Anxious parents
Some anxious parents were forced to search for their children at night after the exams dragged into the night in Bayelsa State.
The PUNCH gathered that at Community Secondary School, Agudama-Epie in Yenagoa, students had to use torch lights, candles, phone torches, rechargeable lanterns and solar light to write their papers due to delay in the delivery of question papers.
A community source said the parents were angry at the glitches and owing to the security situation in the Bayelsa State capital, had no option than to look for their children to determine their safety.
“Parents were angry as they went to look for their children at Community Secondary School, Agudama-Epie.
“They had to use torch lights, candles, phone torches, rechargeable lanterns and solar light to write the exams,” the source stated.
Kwara expresses concern
The Kwara State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr. Lawal Olohungbebe, expressed concern over the delay experienced by students sitting for the exam.
Olohungbebe said he went round some schools in the state on Wednesday for an on-the-spot assessment of several schools across Moro, Ilorin East, Ilorin South and Ilorin West Local Government Areas, describing the disruption as regrettable.
He called on WAEC to put in place better logistics and strategies to prevent a recurrence of such incidents in future examinations.
Also speaking with The PUNCH in Ilorin on Thursday, the state NUT boss, Wahab Agboola, condemned the late arrival of examination questions to schools in the state.
He said, “The late arrival of examination questions in schools, where students were made to write exams with lanterns till 7pm to 9pm in the night is condemnable.
“The West African Examinations Council should correct whatever might have caused the problem and not allow such not to occur in future.”
Reacting to the public outrage, WAEC attributed the delays to heightened efforts to curb examination malpractice.
In a Thursday statement, WAEC’s Acting Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, said measures taken to prevent paper leakage “inadvertently impacted the timeliness and seamless conduct of the examination.”
She cited logistical challenges, security concerns, and sociocultural issues as contributing factors.
Osun meets WAEC
Osun State Commissioner for Education, Dipo Eluwole, on Thursday said the ministry officials held a meeting with the Branch Controller, WAEC, in the state over the irregularities that marred the English (Theory) examination across the state.
Eluwole, added that at the meeting, the WAEC officials explained that the irregularities were caused by technical challenges in the course of planning the examination.
Many schools in the state on Wednesday had to hire generators to provide light for students to write the English Language due to several hours of delay in the commencement of the exam.
Our Osun correspondent, who monitored the situation in Osogbo, observed that many supervisors working with the examination body could not leave the centre where the question papers were distributed until few minutes to 8pm.
When The PUNCH got to Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo around 7:35pm, the premises of the school was in darkness with students at the entrance waiting for the papers to arrive.
It was also learnt that some supervisors going to schools in far flung communities like Oke-Ila and Ora were still on transit minutes to 9pmwhile all private schools visited without Ayetoro, Powerline and Otaefun, Osogbo had generator sets providing light as the examination commenced between 7:30pm and 8:04pm.
The situation was, however, different in many public schools visited, where flashlight and candles were used to light up the examination halls.
Speaking further, Eludire said, “As at 1am (Thursday), we were still on streets monitoring the situation. We invited the Branch Controller of WAEC to a meeting today (Thursday) in our office. At the meeting, the WAEC officials said they have released a statement to the public that they encountered technical issue.”
The Osun State Chairman, National Association of Parents, Teachers of Nigeria, Mr Moshood Fadare, expressed disappointment over the handling of the examination by the management of WAEC.
Fadare, who doubles as the National Publicity Secretary of NAPTAN, stated, “It is unfortunate that a subject as sensitive as English Language is being written under this kind of condition.
“What we are experiencing right now, this is few minutes to 8pm and I am telling you that in most of the schools in Osun, they have not started their examination. To be very modest, I think it, in a way, casts a level of ridicule on the exercise and the integrity of the examination, for me, is at stake.
“What could be the excuse for them not to have started the exam? The children by now must have been destabilised and by implication, I think they may not even come out with flying colours when the result is released.”
Demanding immediate response from the examination body, Fadare added, “I think the WAEC authority should do something in the near future so that we won’t experience something like this again. This is unfortunate, parents are calling everywhere that they have not started. The security of our children is very key. Are they telling us that they’ve made provisions for them to be protected by this hour of the day?
“I really want the examination board to know that this is not acceptable and they should ensure that this does not happen again going forward.”
Bauchi centre okay
Meanwhile, the Bauchi State Ministry of Education has stated that the WAEC exams in the state have been hitch-free.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Thursday, the ministry’s Information Officer, Jalaluddeen Usman, confirmed that following a monitoring exercise on the ongoing WAEC examinations in Bauchi, the ministry has not witnessed or received any report of glitches.
He explained that the monitoring exercise was conducted across selected public and private schools.
“The monitoring team led by the Deputy Director in the Examinations Directorate, Auwal Ibrahim, aimed at assessing the conduct and integrity of the examinations process.
“The exams are progressing smoothly, with strict adherence to guidelines as observed in all the schools visited,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Chairman Bauchi State Examination Ethics, Dr Mudi Jahun, lamented the rate at which examination ethics was violated in the ongoing WAEC.
“By law, it is expected that every examination to be conducted should engage with the examination ethics. But, unfortunately, WAEC has never for once contacted me. And we are aware of the irregularities going on in the examination.
“The examination ethics are working for the government, the society and examination bodies to optimise the conduct.”
He added that the examination ethics is to ensure best practices, hitchfree, and protect the sanctity of the examination.
Also, the Director, Kano Educational Research Department, Mrs.Rabi Inuwa, has said that Kano has not experienced any hitches in the ongoing WAEC Examination across the State.
Inuwa told The PUNCH in a telephone interview on Thursday that the only problem was on Wednesday.
According to her, the examination was still going on across the state without any problem.
However, investigation by our reporter showed that students were caught unawares when they were asked to write the English paper II instead of paper I.
According to the investigation, many students were begged to sit for the English paper II as they didn’t prepare for it.
In Gombe, the Information Officer, state Ministry of Education, Saidu Malala, said the WAEC examination had been ongoing without challenges.
“Our students are comfortably writing WAEC without any hitches. This afternoon the commissioner we went round to examine where examination is ongoing, we don’t have such challenge,” he said.
“We don’t usually write examination in the night. Our examinations are written in the morning hours.”
