Gov Lawal Meets WAEC, Secures Release Of Withheld Zamfara Students’ WASSCE Results

Governor Dauda Lawal has secured the release of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results of public secondary school students of Zamfara State, which were withheld by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

Recall that WAEC withheld the results of Zamfara students over non-payment of N1.4 billion examination fees owed the regional examination body by the previous administrations in the state.

However, a statement issued by the spokesperson of Zamfara State governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, on Wednesday, disclosed that the results have been released following a meeting between Governor Lawal and the leadership of WAEC-Nigeria 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 had 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,” the statement added.

Also present at the meeting were 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.