From John Adams, Minna
The Registrar and Chief Executive of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof Dantani Wushshi, has expressed concern over the level of indebtedness by state governments to the council, saying the development is almost crippling its activities.
The Registrar who spoke at the council headquarters in Minna on Thursday when he released the results of the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) for External Candidates, disclosed that some state governments are owing the council well over N3 billion.
He pointed out that the council has so far recovered N500 million out of this amount, even as he failed to disclose the names of states that are indebted to the council.
Announcing the results at the Council Headquarters in Minna the Registrar disclosed that a total of 60,133 candidates registered for the examination, out of which 58,012 actually sat for the examination.
Professor Wushishi explained that a total of 33,914 candidates Obtained five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics, representing 57 per cent, while 46,825, candidates, representing 79 per cent also got five credits and above irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.
Giving a further breakdown of results which was released 57 days after the last paper, shows that 44,162 candidates, representing 76 per cent got credit and above in English Language, while in Mathematics, 43,096 candidates, representing 74 per cent got credit and above.
The Registrar who reiterated the council’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice noted that appropriate standards and excellence were maintained right from the planning stage to the release of results.
Despite this, Professor Wushishi disclosed that 11,419 candidates were booked for various forms of examination malpractice as against 4,454 candidates in 2021, adding that “this shows a sharp rise in the number of malpractice cases. This is largely due to the improvement in the strategy and technique adopted by the monitoring officers”.
According to him, “this led to the blacklisting of four supervisors, one each from Rivers and Plateau States and two from Ogun State for aiding and abetting, as well as poor supervision,”