EDUCATION: GOV. DAUDA LAWAL MEETS WAEC LEADERSHIP, SECURES RELEASE OF WITHHELD RESULTS OF ZAMFARA STUDENTS

By; Imrana Abdullahi

Governor Dauda Lawal has secured the release of the West African Examination Council results that were withheld for Zamfara Secondary School students.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) withheld the results of Zamfara students over non-payment of N1.4 billion examination fees owed by the previous administrations in the state.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of Zamfara Governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, disclosed that the governor met with the leadership of the West African Examination (WAEC) at his Abuja office on Monday.

According to him, the delegation of the WAEC was led by the Chairman of the Administrative and Finance Committee of WAEC Nigeria, Hajiya Binta Abdulkadir and the head of the National office of WAEC Nigeria, Dr. Amos J. Dangut.

He said: “As part of the present administration’s determined effort to ensure that the state of emergency declared in education is seriously addressed, Governor Dauda Lawal hosted the leadership of the WAEC in his Abuja office.

“The Governor, who was in the company of the honourable commissioner of education, science, and technology, Mallam Wadatau Madawaki, discussed with the WAEC officials the issue of outstanding debt owed by the Zamfara state on examinations conducted under the previous administrations.

“The nonpayment of the WAEC fees for many years led to the non-release of the West African Examination results for the affected students. This, by extension, has caused many students not to participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Corp programme due to non-collection of their results.

The statement added that an agreement has been reached between the Zamfara State Government and WAEC on how to go about resolving the issue.

“At the end of the meeting, the examination body agreed to release the previous results and allow Zamfara students to participate in the 2024 WAEC Examinations.

“Both the state government and WAEC agreed on a payment plan of backlog debt, and the withheld results will be released before the end of this month.”

Also present at the meeting are senior officials of WAEC Nigeria, including Mr Ambrose Okelezo, the Zonal Coordinator; Mr Victor C. Odu, the Director of Finance; and Mr Segun U. Jerumeh, the Deputy Director..