The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned poor examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
NBA’s President, Afam Osigwe, said both JAMB and WAEC 2025 exams showed that impunity has taken over the two institutions that should lead in integrity.
Naijaonpoint reports that NBA, in a statement on Saturday, signed by Osigwe and the body’s General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, slammed JAMB’s registrar, Ishaq Oloyede and WAEC’s leadership for failing to uphold the integrity of the two exams.
“It is very concerning that a new trend of impunity is now emerging from institutions that ought to be leading the way for a better Nigeria. The right to education is a constitutional right and more importantly, the right to treat Nigerian students with dignity and respect is a guaranteed fundamental right every student owns by being a Nigerian.
“The conduct of examinations under shambolic and inclement conditions is unacceptable as it will affect the students’ preparation for the examinations. No sane human being should be compelled to sit for an examination that was advertised to be conducted in the daytime but ended up being done in the night, well outside the time published by the examination body.
“WAEC did not advertise that its examinations will be conducted in the night in halls where there would be no adequate facilities like power and security. The students never contracted with WAEC to sit for examinations in the night.
“Any examination conducted under such circumstances is already compromised and amounts to a breach of the students’ contractual rights and sections 34 and 39 of the Constitution guaranteeing their right to respect for the dignity of their persons and freedom to receive knowledge, ideas and information,” it read.
NBA condemned the silence of the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, towards the poor conduct of the exams. NBA noted that it was the duty of Alausa’s ministry to hold the leadership of JAMB and WAEC accountable for the poor conduct of the exams.
“Since the occurrence of these incidents, no statement or intervention has been made by the Federal Ministry of Education, which is the supervisory Ministry for both JAMB and WAEC. Public officials must be held accountable for every dereliction and how they exercise of their official powers.
“JAMB and WAEC in their latest examination exercises, have therefore, failed to discharge their statutory responsibilities with all sense of responsibilities and respect for the students; and these unfortunate incidents have further stained our educational sector, thereby, further de-marketing the country in the comity of nations,” it stated.
Osigwe (SAN) called on the National Assembly to set up a joint committee to investigate what led to the unfortunate incidents.
“We, therefore, call upon the leadership of the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives) to urgently set up a joint Committee to investigate the circumstances that led to these unfortunate incidents occasioned by the two examination bodies and ensure that those persons responsible face the consequences of their actions. The absence of consequences will only lead to a re-occurrence that may be worse,” it added.