Stakeholders have called on defaulting state governments to pay up the examination fees of the pupils they registered. According to the stakeholders, the payment of such fees will cover the operational costs of examination bodies, including materials, staff and logistics required to conduct exams. These fees, they argue, are essential for the smooth-running and delivery of the examinations. They asserted that such attitude was encouraging out-of-school menace and aides the recruitment of militants, Assistant Editor BOLA OLAJUWON reports
Imperative of inclusive education
State governments’ involvement in paying for examinations being organised by the National Examinations Council (NECO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and Qur’anic bodies, especially in the North, was informed by the initiatives of the second tier of government on inclusive education. This was aimed at providing equal learning opportunities for all students, valuing their unique backgrounds, and fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Its significance also lies in developing essential life skills, reducing stigma, promoting academic growth for diverse learners, and building more resilient, prosperous, and equitable societies. The plan of states to tackle out-of-school children’s menace affecting about 20 million of school age children also informed the need to pay their school and examinations fees.
It is also meant to create equal opportunities and access to all pupils, regardless of their abilities, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background, to get the same chance to learn and develop the skills needed to thrive.
This is in line with United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) policy, which considers education a fundamental human right, a public good, and a key driver of peace and sustainable development. UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education, from early childhood to higher education and beyond. Its global efforts are anchored in the Education 2030 Agenda, specifically Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all.
It is also in line with United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF’s) work on education, which focuses on ensuring every child has access to quality learning, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of the most marginalised and vulnerable children. This includes working on access to equitable and inclusive education, improving learning quality, and providing support during emergencies, especially on the need to address gender disparities and improve access for girls in schools.
States recurring default in paying exam fees of registered candidates
But, such educational initiative of paying fees for examinations for pupils becomes a problem for the candidates as such state governments defaulted by owing the examination bodies billions for many years thereby truncating the future of the candidates to embark on acquisition of more knowledge, skills, and values to build a more sustainable future.
In a media report on February 17, 2023, the NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, stated that seven northern states collectively owed NECO over N2 billion in unpaid examination fees. The debt was reportedly reduced from over N3 billion through the efforts of some state governors. This debt, which is used to pay examiners and acquire materials, affects the council’s ability to conduct examinations smoothly.
The registrar made this known while announcing the 2022 External Senior School Certificate Examination at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State. He said the debt was affecting the council in the conduct of examination as it relied on what it generated from the payment of examination fees to pay its examiners.
Also, WAEC had in the past raised concerns about state governments defaulting on payments for candidates in public schools. In 2023, eight states reportedly owed the examination council. Zamfara and Niger were identified as the biggest debtors.
Zamfara State, under former Governor Bello Matawalle, reportedly owed WAEC about N1.6 billion, a figure later confirmed by the current administration. In an interview, Governor Dauda Lawal’s spokesperson, Mustapha Kaura, said the debt was inherited from two previous administrations.
Kaura said the state intended to pay the debt either in full or in installments once the governor secured approval from the state executive council. In May 2025, the Zamfara government announced it had paid N1.4 billion to clear the debts it owed to WAEC from 2018 to 2022.
“The swift payment of the outstanding debt to WAEC and NECO has relieved the stranded Zamfara students, who completed their final exams, but could not proceed in their education due to the examination bodies withholding their results,” a statement published on the state government’s website said.
“For the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Governor Dauda Lawal has paid the outstanding bill of one billion, four hundred million naira that the previous administrations owed from 2018 to 2022.”
In 2021, a report identified six states as owing NECO N1.8 billion. They were Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Niger, and Zamfara.
As expected, WAEC and NECO usually withhold results for state-sponsored students when the respective state governments fail to pay the registration fees. This is a recurring issue that affects thousands of students across the country.
Zamfara pays N3.7b exams debt, students’ withheld results released
Few days ago, the Zamfara State Government announced that it had settled accumulated debts owed examination bodies leading to the release of withheld students’ results. Briefing journalists on this development, the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Malam Wadato Madawaki, said this had ended nearly a decade of non-release of student’s results.
He said the milestone was one of the gains of Governor Lawal’s declaration of a state of emergency on education in November 2023. Madawaki explained that, when they assumed office, they met a chaotic situation where public school pupils, who sat for WAEC and NECO examinations between 2015 and 2023, could not access their results.
He alleged that previous administrations of Zamfara State failed to pay their examination fees. According to him, Zamfara owed WAEC N1.4 billion for the period 2019 to 2023, while NECO was owed N1.3 billion for examinations conducted between 2019 and 2022.
Madawaki said a backlog of N1.022 billion covering 2015 to 2018 NECO exams was also settled by the present administration. He noted that due to the debts, Zamfara public schools were initially barred from writing NECO examinations in 2022 and 2023, but following Governor Lawal’s intervention, NECO shifted the 2023 exams by two weeks to allow pupils from the state to participate.
“With the governor’s approval, all outstanding payments have now been made. WAEC has released all withheld results up to 2024, while NECO has cleared results from 2015 to 2022,″ he said.
Stakeholders urge timely payment of exams fees
While the move by the governor was aimed at securing the future of many pupils, many of whom could not collect their higher institution certificates because their secondary school results were withheld, stakeholders have called on concerned state governments still defaulting to pay the examination bodies.
Reacting on the issue in an interview with The Nation, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo said it was unfortunate that state governments are not paying for the NECO and WAEC examinations of their students after they must have sat for the examinations. According to him, it means that any state government that has not paid the examination fees is only paying lip service to education.
Ogunbanjo said: “WAEC and NECO have honoured you. They have agreed that the pupils should write the exams on credit. You didn’t pay in advance; whereas individuals will pay in advance.
“But these organisations will trust the state governments and they allow the students to write the exams. I’m sorry to say that any state government that has refused to pay the examination fees of their students is only paying lip service to education. The states should not be taken seriously as having anything to do with the upbringing and education of their students.
“They are saying that they want to encourage education for all. But, their attitude is absurd, condemnable and really very bad.
“The implication is that for the case of Zamfara State that owed to the tune of five to 10 years, we don’t know what the students will be doing. That means the time they would have graduated, they would be waiting for examination results.
“So, that is why I said they are only paying lip service to education of their states’ students. They should stop that and then be serious with education for once. And that is why these people have been encouraged to join Boko Haram to become bandits. It’s rather unfortunate. And they should stop it.”
The Founder/CEO IA-Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo, in an interview with Nation, said education is not a privilege. It is a fundamental right guaranteed to every child, regardless of gender, background, or circumstances, Adeagbo said.
“When states fail to pay examination bodies, they punish the children they are meant to support. The consequences of such actions by some states have shattered many dreams, interrupted learning, caused emotional distress, and increased the dropout rate among young people.
“As an organisation committed to addressing the out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria, we urge all indebted states to take urgent action by clearing their debts to WAEC and NECO without further delays.
Zamfara’s recent efforts to settle its debts, which have spanned five to 10 years, are highly commendable. This should motivate and encourage all other indebted states to do the same, in order to fulfill their constitutional obligations and moral responsibilities to ensure that no child is denied access to education.
Ronke Oyelakin Odukoya, a child rights activist and the current Executive Director of the Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (BOF) in Lagos, Nigeria, submitted that it was sad that this was happening in the nation’s education system.
Odukoya, who also serves as the Executive Coordinator for BOF and a Public Relations Officer for the Association of Orphanage and Home Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON), said: “So as a child protection network, an initiative of UNICEF, my message is to encourage states to clear these debts for the benefit of students’ future prospects and uphold their right to education as enshrined in the constitution – ‘the right to development’. The implication of unpaid debts is that students’ results remain withheld, hindering their academic and career progression, as seen in the case of Zamfara, which recently settled its debt to resolve withheld results.
“If we should analyse the impact of these debts on children and young people, re-emphasising their right to education, it is imperative and a wakeup call for “timely payment”. CPN urges the governments through the states to fulfill their financial obligations to examination bodies to ensure students can access their full results and continue their education.
“Importance of education cannot be over-emphasised knowing that education is a crucial pathway for personal development and societal progress, and withheld results act as a significant barrier to this.
“The ripple effect of this unpaid debt can mar the futures of these children and impact on future opportunities as it can also prevent students from sitting for future examinations, thus creating a long-term negative impact on their ability to pursue further education or employment.
“The children could also loose trust in the state government and the examination bodies.
“Lastly, the delay in paying the examination fees may make students to lose interest in education and could lead many to engaging in some social vices; and an idle mind is indeed the devils workshop.
“Some of the affected students may be compelled to abandon schools and engage in menial jobs, especially in any financial earnings pending the release of their results.
“As a child advocate, knowing the importance of education to any child’s development, I want to implore the government and other actors to ensure that these unpaid fees are cleared and our children can further their education and in return, be an impactful members of the society and the country at large.”
