The West African Examinations Council(WAEC), has threatened to withhold results of several candidates who sat for the May/June 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination in 19 states.
The threat was occasioned by the failure of the states to pay about N4bn they owed WAEC for government-sponsored candidates.
WAEC’s Head of National Office, Lagos, Mr. Charles Eguridu, who sounded this warning on Monday at a briefing in Lagos, said the results of the candidates sponsored by the debtor states might not be released.
He said, “A total number of 19 states in the country owe the Council in respect of entry fees for state government sponsored candidates for the May/June 2015 WASSCE. Some states also still owe the Council registration fees for the May/June 2014 WASSCE.
“We have written to the affected state governments without any response. The poor response of the debtor states is threatening the smooth operations of the Council.
“We, therefore, want to publicly plead with the affected states to off-set the registration fees of their candidates as soon as possible, as we cannot guarantee that the results of their candidates for the May/June 2015 will be released along with others.
“Many of the states of the federation, as part of their education policy, pay the registration fees of candidates for the WASSCE, particularly in their public schools. This is quite commendable as it has afforded many indigent students the opportunity to sit for our examinations and relieved many poor parents of this financial burden.
“However, this obviously good gesture has come at a price to the Council. As I speak to you now, we are cash-strapped because of the delay in offsetting the registration fees owed the Council by some states. As a result, we are finding it difficult in meeting our financial obligations, particularly to our supervisors, examiners and service providers.”
