Results of students from eight states of the federation that sat for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), have been withheld by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), over the indebtedness of the states to the council.

This was disclosed at a press briefing on Monday in Lagos by the Head of National Office, Mr Patrick Areghan, while briefing the press on the release of the results of the examination concluded 44 days ago.

While expressing confidence that some of the affected states would soon pay up, the HNO listed Zamfara and Niger as the highest debtors. He, however, refuses to mention the remaining states.

While Areghan also did not give the amount the states owe individually and collectively, it was gathered that it runs into hundreds of millions of naira.

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

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.”

He said the council was able to surmount challenges of insecurity, and cash policy among others, via technological innovation that saw over 91 percent of candidates results released.

He explained that out of a total of the 1,613,733 candidates that sat for the examination, 1,361,608) candidates, representing 84.38%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects, while 1,287,920 candidates, representing 79.81%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of 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, 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,” he stated.

He added that 20,867 recognized secondary schools in the country presented candidates for the exam, while candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea where the Nigerian curriculum for Senior Secondary Schools is being used, also presented candidates.

Areghan added that of the total number of candidates, 794,280 were males, while 819,453 were females, representing 49.22%% and 50.78%, respectively.

He said 137,168 candidates representing 8.5% have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some shortcomings, and gave the assurance that they would get their full results in few days.

Meanwhile, Areghan, whose tenure will expire this year, explained that 2023 WASSCE candidates can simultaneously access their results and certificates.

His words: “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.” (Vanguard)

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