By Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
The member representing Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Ogah, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to release the results of 192,089 candidates withheld over alleged examination malpractice.
Ogah expressed strong displeasure over the action, describing it as sabotage and a deliberate attempt to frustrate Nigerian youths seeking university admission.
Speaking to journalists while reacting to the development, the federal lawmaker warned that if WAEC fails to release the withheld results within the stipulated period, he would institute legal action against the examination body for what he termed “abuse of office.”
“It is very unfortunate that after candidates wrote their WAEC and JAMB to gain admission into universities, WAEC will withhold their results on flimsy excuses, thereby preventing them from securing admission,” Ogah stated.
According to the WAEC Head of National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, who announced the release of the 2025 results on Monday, a total of 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75% of the total number of candidates who sat for the examination, had their results withheld over reported cases of malpractice.
But Ogah faulted the rationale, insisting that the candidates were unfairly penalised despite the presence of WAEC’s own examiners and supervisors during the conduct of the exams.
“WAEC has supervisors, examiners, and external monitors who oversee the conduct of these exams. If there was any malpractice, it should have been addressed during the exams, not after, when students are already processing their university admissions,” he said.
The lawmaker further alleged that such actions do not occur in other WAEC member countries, accusing the Nigerian office of a pattern of systemic frustration of young citizens.
“This is unacceptable and a pure act of sabotage. They don’t do this in Ghana or other West African countries. WAEC should release those results within seven days or be ready to face legal action,” Ogah warned.
He urged the examination body to either present concrete evidence of malpractice or immediately release the results, stressing that failure to do so could lead many of the affected students to lose out on university admissions and possibly turn to crime or other vices due to frustration.