Ekiti debunks allegation of WAEC fees padding

Ekiti State Government has denied padding the West African Examination Council (WAEC) fees for Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) students in the state’s public schools.

An online medium had accused the state government of padding the fees of the May/June WAEC by 25 per cent. It alleged that the examination fee was inflated by N3,500 for each of the 14,242 students of public secondary schools in the state.

The Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Foluso Daramola, had announced the state’s approval of N248,522,900 to pay the WAEC fees of Ekiti public secondary schools. The figure quoted then implied that each student would pay N17,450.

However, reacting to the allegation yesterday, the Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, described the allegation as spurious, stressing that the originators were either ignorant of the incidental expenses relating to the conduct of the examination or simply failed to patiently carry out due diligence before going public with their report.

Olumilua said that the originators of the allegation did not take cognisance of the sundry expenses in the entire examination process, emphasising that the state government made provision for all costs in respect of the examination, from registration to the release of results, including WAEC conferences in and out of the state, as well as administrative expenses for the conduct of National Examinations Council (NECO).

According to him, the government also paid for reagent requirements for laboratory practical for the various schools, archive albums with candidates’ photographs, logistics for the administration of the examination, which would include transportation for principals and registrars of schools, uniform identity cards for the students, and e-registration.

Reiterating the commitment of the Kayode Fayemi-led administration to the provision of qualitative and compulsory education in the state, Olumilua said the government would not be deterred or lose focus in the task of putting the state in its pride of place among the comity of states.

He said that it was not the first time the administration would offset the examination fees of students in the state, stressing the administration’s zero-tolerance for fraud.

The commissioner, therefore, urged the general public to discountenance the allegation and continue to support the efforts of the Fayemi-led administration to move the state to greater heights.