Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the conditions under which students in various parts of Nigeria were forced to sit for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, calling the situation a “national disgrace” and demanding a resit of the affected examination paper.
In a statement issued on Thursday following widespread reports of students writing their exams in dark and unfit environments across the country, Atiku expressed deep concern over what he called a “damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.”
He wrote, “The recent report of students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in appallingly dark and unfit conditions across the country is nothing short of a national disgrace. That this outrage occurred just a day after the world marked International Children’s Day only deepens the shame.
This is not merely an unfortunate incident — it is a damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.
It is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and utterly indefensible that in 2025, our children are forced to write critical national exams in pitch darkness like second-class citizens.”
Atiku also demanded the retake of the affected examination paper in all affected centres, warning that anything less would be a “grave injustice to the students whose futures hang in the balance.”.
This incident must awaken our national conscience,” he wrote. “It must compel immediate and sustained investment in critical social infrastructure, with education as the foremost priority — not in rhetoric but in tangible action.”
He further stated that while students share responsibility in preparing for examinations, the authorities failed in ensuring conducive conditions, and it would be “utterly unjust to allow students to suffer the consequences of such gross institutional negligence.”
Atiku concluded his statement by urging relevant authorities to establish and enforce minimum environmental and infrastructural standards for all high-stakes national examinations to prevent a recurrence.
We must never allow such a shameful scenario to repeat itself — not under our watch,” he wrote
A similar situation was also reported at Government Secondary School, Namnai, in Taraba State, where candidates narrowly escaped injury after their classrooms collapsed during a storm on Wednesday evening.
ObasEmpire reports that viral videos on Wednesday revealed candidates sitting for the 2025 WASSCE English Language examination late at night without electricity, using lanterns and mobile phone flashlights.
The West African Examinations Council, attributed the delay in the conduct of the 2025 English Language paper on heightened efforts to curb examination malpractice, particularly the leakage of question papers.
However, the National Association of Nigerian Students condemned WAEC for the delay calling the shift of the exam from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. “insensitive” and a “gross disregard for the safety and well-being” of candidates, especially in rural areas.
NANS also criticized WAEC’s internal security lapses, arguing that students should not be made to suffer for the body’s failure to prevent examination malpractice.
