WAEC Warns Schools, Supervisors Against Extorting WASSCE Candidates

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has issued a sharp warning to school officials and examination supervisors over reports of extortion targeting candidates during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The Council cited illegal charges for script transportation, so-called welfare packages, and unauthorised "cooperation" fees as some of the practices under scrutiny.

The warning came in a statement issued Monday by WAEC's Public Affairs Department, signed by the Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina.

According to the statement, the Council has been receiving reports of supervisors and schools demanding money from candidates and their parents under a range of pretexts. In some particularly troubling cases, candidates were reportedly charged for KAPEK calculators, items WAEC already supplies free of charge as part of its standard examination materials.

WAEC did not mince words in condemning these practices, describing them as "illegal, unethical, and a direct threat to the integrity of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination."

In response, the Council issued a direct instruction to all school proprietors, principals, supervisors, and invigilators: any unauthorised collection of money from candidates or their parents must stop immediately. The statement left little room for ambiguity on this point, declaring plainly that "no collection of money from candidates or parents for any examination official" would be tolerated under any circumstances.

WAEC also called on stakeholders, whether parents, candidates, or concerned members of the public, to speak up whenever they encounter attempts at extortion. The Council urged them to report such incidents to zonal coordinators or through its official communication channels, rather than staying silent or simply complying with illegitimate demands.

Beyond the financial exploitation, the Council raised a related concern: the intimidation and harassment of candidates. It warned that any school or official found to have subjected students to such treatment, whether tied to extortion or otherwise, would face consequences. The penalties on the table are severe and wide-ranging, including derecognition of the affected school, blacklisting, prosecution, and referral to relevant authorities for further disciplinary action.

Throughout the statement, WAEC repeatedly stressed its commitment to protecting the credibility of its examinations and shielding students from exploitation of any kind. The message was clear: the Council views these extortion attempts not as isolated incidents to be quietly managed, but as a genuine threat to the integrity of an examination that carries enormous weight for hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians and their counterparts across West Africa.

Even with these concerns weighing on the exam period, WAEC indicated that its focus remains on ensuring the smooth conduct of WASSCE going forward. The Council said it is actively working to strengthen its logistical arrangements to prevent further disruptions, a signal that it is treating the extortion reports alongside other operational challenges rather than in isolation.

Those other challenges have already made themselves felt in this year's examination cycle. WAEC had previously acknowledged that the ongoing WASSCE faced a number of operational setbacks, including delays to some papers. These delays were linked, at least in part, to logistical issues affecting the distribution and handling of examination materials. Compounding matters, the Council also confirmed a fatal accident involving its officials, an incident that further complicated an already difficult examination period.

Taken together, the extortion allegations and the logistical troubles paint a picture of an examination cycle under considerable strain. For WAEC, the challenge now is twofold: addressing the immediate reports of financial exploitation and intimidation while also shoring up the broader logistical framework that supports the exam's smooth running across thousands of schools.

The Council's decision to name specific tactics, from script transportation fees to fake welfare charges to the KAPEK calculator scheme, suggests these are not vague or speculative concerns but patterns drawn directly from reports reaching WAEC's offices. By spelling out these examples publicly, the Council appears to be aiming for two things at once: putting offending schools and officials on notice, and giving candidates and parents a clearer sense of what illegitimate charges actually look like in practice, so they can recognise and resist them.

Whether this warning translates into meaningful enforcement will likely depend on how seriously WAEC follows through on its stated sanctions, and on how willing candidates and parents are to come forward despite the power imbalance that often exists between students and the school officials responsible for their examinations.

For now, though, the Council has drawn a clear line, one that leaves schools and supervisors with little excuse to claim ignorance of what is, and isn't, acceptable during this year's WASSCE.