WAEC Fees: School Principals Fail to Appear for Verification After Smuggling 7,702 Ghost Students Into Register

The Kogi State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, has taken a strong stance against principals of some public secondary schools who are attempting to frustrate the policy of payment of examinations fee initiated by Governor Yahaya Bello, by criminaly inputing ficticious names into Schools registers to benefit from the policy.

Recall that in November 2023, Governor Yahaya Bello declared free education in Kogi State, with one of the ingredient being the payment of both internal and external examinations fees for students in public schools across the State.

Addressing a press conference in Lokoja on Thursday, January 25th, 2024, the Kogi State commissioner for education, science and technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, said some disgruntled elements hiding under the guise of Principals in Schools were trying to sabotage the good intention of the State Government for their selfish reasons.

He said the Ministry requested for the registers of eligible students from principals of public schools across the state, with which 15,033 was recorded, adding that Governor Yahaya Bello thereafter, approved and released over N497m to pay for their WAEC fees.

The Commissioner added that discrepancies were however observed during the verification exercise where it noticed that the number of students was jacked up from the earlier 15,033 to 22,735. Meaning that extra 7,702 students smuggled into registers by school principals. He said further enquiry revealed that the principals went ahead to inflate the figure with ficticious names which includes names of people who had previously written WAEC and failed, importing names from private schools into the register so as to make government pay school fees for people who were not originally captured in the policy.

“But because we have all the documents, data and knowledge of registration pattern over the past three to four years, we insisted on physical verification. I led a team to the three senatorial districts of the state and we addressed principals. We had one in Lokoja, Kabba, Anyigba and Okene local government areas informing them of the physical verification exercise using their 2021 BECE (junior WAEC) examination because before you qualify to sit for WAEC, you must have sat for BECE in 2021.

“We simply asked the principala to attach the result of their BECE to the persons that they are claiming to be benefide students. As at today, we have cleared 14,400 out of the 15,033 that government paid for. This is about 95 percent of the entire students, ” he noted.

Mr. Wemi Jones noted that the people making the noise that the ministry of education, science and technology is coming up with draconian conditions to register students for this year’s WAEC are those principals who refused to come for physical verification and they all have questionable characters. He stressed that the principals of these schools will be made the scapegoats because they want to use the system to defraud the government.

He said parents should hold the principal responsible if there is any student that started right from the onset in that school, did transfer to another school, and the child is not cleared.

“This government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, which by the grace of God would be consolidated by the next administration of Alhaji Usman Ododo, is passionate about taking education in Kogi State to the next level we will stop at nothing to prevent anybody from sabotaging the effort that this government is making toward positioning our state as number one when it comes to education,” he added.

According to the Ministry, the names of schools that did not appear for 2024 WAEC verification are:

ANKPA LGA
Community of Arabic and Islamies, Ankpa.
Community Secondary School, Okenyi.
Enjema Community Secondary School, Ofugo.
Government Girls Science Secondary, Okanekpo.
Government Science School, Enabo.
Government Girls Science Secondary, School, Okaba.
Young Muslim Secondary School, Ankpa.
Awo Community Secondary Commercial College.
United Evangelical Church Secondary School, Ankpa.
Okay Community Secondary School, Ika.
Attarbiyatul Islamiya Secondary School, Okaba.
Local Government Special Day Secondary School, Ankpa.

DEKINA LGA.
Government Science Secondary School, Olowa
Ukpo Community Secondary School.
Community Secondary School, Agbada II.
Oganenigwu Community Secondary School.
Government Secondary School, Odu.

IGALAMELA/ ODOLU LGA.
Avrugo District Community Secondary School
Community Secondary School, Ugwaka-Olla.
Government special Science College Ankpa

OFU LGA.
Community Secondary School, Ugwolawo.

OLAMABORO LGA.
Government Day Secondary School, Ikem-Ogugu.

OMALA LGA
Community Science School, Olla.
Bahama Community Secondary School.
Government Day Secondary School, Abejukolo
Government Science Secondary School, Ogodu
Ife Community Secondary School.