The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is asking lawmakers to take action against officials who caused serious problems during the 2025 JAMB and WAEC exams.
Earlier this year, many students protested their JAMB results released on May 9. They said the scores were wrong and lower than what they actually earned. On April 14, JAMB’s head, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, admitted that there were technical issues. These issues affected the results of about 379,997 students from 157 centres in Lagos and the south-east.
According to Oloyede, a server problem made it hard to upload students’ answers during the first three days of the exam. Because of this, many scores came out wrong.
JAMB allowed the affected students to retake the exam, but they only gave them 48 hours’ notice, which many saw as unfair.
WAEC also faced public anger after a major delay during the English Language exam on May 28. In many centres, the test, which was supposed to start at 9am, didn’t begin until late evening. In some places, students started as late as 11:45pm. This made many parents angry and led to a lot of complaints online.
WAEC later explained that the delay was due to the leaked exam questions.
On May 31, the NBA released a statement signed by its President, Afam Osigwe, and Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara. The group said that officials responsible for these problems must face punishment.
“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 statement reads.
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 circumstance 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.”
The NBA also said that JAMB and WAEC failed to do their jobs properly. According to the association, their failure has damaged Nigeria’s image and trust in the education system.
To avoid future problems, the NBA called on the Senate and House of Representatives to set up a joint committee to investigate these issues. They warned that if no one is held responsible, even worse problems could happen in the future.
