ADDRESS BY DR.

AMOS JOSIAH DANGUT,MSTAN,MNIM,RAS, HEAD OF THE

NIGERIA NATIONAL OFFICE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS
COUNCIL (WAEC), AT A PRESS BRIEFING ON THE RELEASE OF RESULTS OF
THE WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
(WASSCE) FOR SCHOOL CANDIDATES, 2024 ON MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2024,
AT THE WAEC NIGERIA NATIONAL OFFICE, YABA, LAGOS

Gentlemen of the media, with joy in my heart and gratitude to God Almighty and all
stakeholders, I, on behalf of the Registrar to Council, Management and Staff of the
West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, welcome you to this press
briefing to announce the release of results of the West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2024 in Nigeria.

Gentlemen of the media, the conduct of WASSCE for School Candidates,2024 the
first conducted under my administration, was a huge success. Meanwhile, after my
assumption of office, WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2023-Second Series and the
novel Computer-based WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024 – First Series were also
successfully conducted.

Examination Period

The examination spanned a period of seven (07) weeks and six (06) days, from April 30
to June 24, 2024.

Challenges encountered around conduct of the examination

1. Security Concerns
Gentlemen of the press, the “Sit-at-home” order by the Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPoB) and the industrial action embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC), coincided with the days major papers would be written. These
posed serious threat that could have deprived Nigerian candidates the privilege
of sitting the papers with their counterparts in other member countries. I am
exceedingly glad that the Nigerian populace saw reason to allow candidates sit
all the papers.

2. Non-Adherence to Registration Deadline

This was perhaps the greatest headache the Council encountered on the road to
conduct the examination. This issue continued to linger as some schools failed to
upload their students’ CASS at the stipulated time and many also failed to meet

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 registration deadlines. It should be known to all and sundry that registration
for WAEC examinations is not an open-ended thing. Pre-examination materials,
examination materials and post-examination materials have to be produced,
using data supplied by candidates in good time before the conduct of any diet.
Failure to meet these requirements would throw the entire process into
jeopardy. We plead for co-operation and understanding in this respect, in order
to make future exercises less stressful.

3. Financial Issues/Inflation

The rate of inflation in the country has affected the cost of everything and the
Council is not excluded as this has greatly added to the challenges we are facing
in terms of the cost of conducting examinations.
In addition, the constant hike in price and scarcity of petroleum products
affected the seamless conduct of the examination, as we had to move
examination materials from one point to another.

4. Rogue Website Operators/Shameless Connivance of Some Supervisors

During the course of inspection, activities of rogue website operators did not go
unnoticed as some of these miscreants are already having a taste of their
pudding. A few supervisors and invigilators who were caught aiding and abetting
examination malpractice, were also brought to book. The Council, on its part,
through the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), will mete out appropriate
sanctions to affected supervisors, through the various State Ministries of
Education.

Coordination and Marking Exercise

The Coordination of Examiners and Marking of Candidates’ Scripts took place from
July 10 to July 29, 2024, across eighty-six (86) Traditional Marking Venues, and three
(3) e-Marking Venues throughout the Federation. A total of Eighty Seven Thousand,
Four Hundred and Ninety-Nine (87,499) Traditional Examiners and Two Thousand
Seven Hundred and Six (2,706) e-Examiners participated in the Coordination and
Marking Exercise.
During the marking exercise, the Council introduced a more efficient way of capturing
candidates’ scores online. This innovation enable real-time capturing and transfer of
scores on digitised platform in order to reduce errors, and provide a more transparent
and reliable scoring system. This ingenious exercise was pilot-tested in the Marking
Venues across Lagos State. In due course, the Council will deploy this technology in
other Marking Venues across the country, as this will enable prompt release of results.

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Today, I am happy to inform you that all the processes leading to the release of
results have been completed. It is now my pleasure to announce the release of results
of candidates that sat WASSCE for School Candidates, 2024 in Nigeria.

A total of ONE MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN THOUSAND,

SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX (1,814,736) candidates registered for the
examination from twenty five thousand, one hundred and twenty-six (25,126)
recognized secondary schools in the country. Of the number that registered for the
examination, ONE MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIVE THOUSAND, TWO
HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN (1,805,216) candidates sat the examination. The
examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic,
Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian, curriculum for Senior
Secondary Schools is being used.

I also wish to report that a total of ONE HUNDRED AND NINE THOUSAND, ONE
HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN (109,115) candidates with varying degrees of Special
Needs registered for the examination. Out of this number, ONE HUNDRED AND
FORTY-FIVE (145) were visually challenged, FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-
THREE (473) had impaired hearing; FORTY-FOUR (44) were spastic cum mentally
challenged and THIRTY EIGHT (38) were physically challenged. All these candidates
were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of
these candidates have been processed and are also now being released along with
those of other candidates.

Of the total number of ONE MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIVE THOUSAND,
TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN (1,805,216) candidates that sat the examination,
EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY–SIX THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED AND
NINETY-FOUR (896,894) were males while NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO (908,322) were females,
representing 49.68% and 50.32%, respectively.

Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination in Nigeria, ONE
MILLION, SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED
AND EIGHTY-NINE (1,685,889) candidates, representing 93.39% have their
results fully processed and released while ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN
THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN (119,327) candidates,
representing 6.61% have one or more of their subjects still being processed due to
some issues being resolved. Efforts are, however, being made to speedily complete
the process and release the affected candidates’ results within a couple of days.

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The analysis of statistics of candidates performance in the examination shows that
out of the ONE MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIVE THOUSAND, TWO
HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN (1,805,216) candidates that sat the examination, ONE
MILLION, THREE HUNRED AND THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHTY-
NINE (1,332,089) candidates, representing 73.79%, obtained credit and above in a
minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e. with or without English Language and/ or
Mathematics;

ONE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND ONE THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED

AND FORTY-ONE (1,301,941) candidates, representing 72.12%, obtained credits
and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and
Mathematics.

Of this number, SIX HUNRDED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND, EIGHT

HUNDRED AND TWENTY (628,820) i.e. 48.30% were male candidates, while SIX
HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-
ONE (673,121) i.e. 51.70% were female candidates. A comparison of the percentage
of candidates in this category in WASSCE for School 2023 and 2024, reveal that in
this year’s (2024) WASSCE, there is 7.69% decrease in performance (that is, those
who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English
Language and Mathematics, was 79.81%).

Examination Malpractice

The results of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND
SIXTY-SEVEN (215,267) candidates, representing 11.92% of the total number of
candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various
reported cases of examination malpractice. This is (4.37%) lower than the 16.29%
recorded in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023.

The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban,
and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues. All the cases are
being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the
appropriate Committee of the Council for consideration and final decisions. The
Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their
various schools, in due course. Candidates affected by these decisions can now call for
redress of their malpractice cases if they so wish via
https://waecinternational.org/complaints

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The Council will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice as schools,
supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating this evil are not helping the
educational system. All hands must therefore be on deck to sanitize the system.

Gentlemen of the Media, as WASSCE for School Candidates, 2024 results are being
uploaded on the results website, candidates should after checking the result online,
apply for their Digital certificate which will be released forty eight (48) hours
thereafter. Candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can
access their results on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org, within the
next twelve hours. Copies of the Result Listing will be sent to schools shortly.

I need not restate the fact that the results of candidates who are sponsored by
States indebted to the Council will not be released now until payment is made. We
appeal to the concerned to do so to enable the affected schools/candidates access
their results.

The Result Checker PIN and Serial Number required by candidates to check their
results online, are contained on the Candidate’s Smart Identity Card issued and used
during conduct of the examination. Hard copies of certificates of candidates whose
results have been fully processed and released will be ready within the next 90 days,
counting from today.

GENERAL

Before I end this briefing, let me use this opportunity to acquaint the media and other
stakeholders with the latest developments in the operations of the Council.

1. WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024- Second Series

The registration for WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024 –Second Series is
currently on-going. The registration commenced on the 8th of July, 2024 and
the entry period will end on Friday, 30th of August, 2024. Provision has been
made for candidates to choose between Computer-based and Pen-and-Paper
Test option/mode. Also, there will be provision for walk-in candidates
throughout the duration of the examination. Interested candidates can enroll a
day to the date of the paper they wish to take and simply walk into the
examination hall to take it. Registration PINs can be purchased from WAEC
offices, accredited banks and cashless payment points/Point of Sales (POS)
operators. The cost of the Registration PIN is Twenty Seven Thousand Naira

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 (N27,000) only, with a commission fee of N500.00 only payable to the sales
agent. Candidates can log on to www.waeconline.org.ng for more information.

Candidates will be expected to supply their NIN as part of the registration

requirements.

2. WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2025 – First Series

WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2025 – First Series will follow shortly after
the end of WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024 – Second Series, in
January/February, 2025. These various examination diets are aimed at reducing
the waiting period for candidates to access examinations and obtain results and
hence, increase access to higher education.

3. COMPILED WAEC PAST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (HARD COPIES).

The Council, recognizing the prevalent reliance on dishonest practices by

candidates to excel in its examinations, introduced compiled past questions and
answers, which is intended to bolster the readiness of each candidate, covering
topics in sciences, business, arts and core subjects. Each subject combination is
priced at Five Thousand, Two Hundred Naira (N5,200) only and can be
purchased in any of our offices. This, in turn, will help alleviate anxiety during
examinations and discourage the dependence on malpractice for success.

4. WAECKONNECT MOBILE APP: is a digital platform that disseminates crucial

information to candidates. The platform also has a discussion forum, revision
system, AI assistant, exam tips and hacks, scholarship information, practice
tests and much more.
Stakeholders can download the WaecKonnect app on play store or App store to

enable them keep abreast of all information as it pertains to WAEC

5. WAEC E-STUDY AND PAST QUESTIONS: WAEC as an organisation has the

interest of its stakeholders at heart; hence, it also recently launched

electronic, past questions and answers to enable candidates to prepare better

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 for forthcoming examinations; more so, stakeholders can use it to serve other

educational purposes.

Soft copies of these past questions prepared by WAEC is available to

stakeholders by logging on to https://waec.estudy.ng

6. Digital Certificate

It is no longer news that the Council has a platform that allows candidates to

access, confirm and share their original WAEC Certificate. More interesting is

the fact that candidates can now access their certificates soon after results

are released.

7. Computer-Based Testing Services

WAEC offers reliable, Computer-Based Testing and Aptitude Testing Services

to the general public at the WAEC Testing and Training Centre, Ogba - an

edifice that boasts of state-of-the-art facilities. The Aptitude Tests

Department, Yaba, also delivers reliable and standardized computer and paper-

based testing service. These services are available for stakeholders and

prospective clients/customers who wish to engage the services of WAEC for its

computer-based testing services.

8. EDUSTAT

This enables interested stakeholders to access WAEC statistics online. It is

very useful for researchers, organisations and governments, at all levels.

9. WAEC Chatbot

All WAEC services can be accessed online and in real-time through the WAEC

Request Management Portal (WAEC CHATBOT) by logging online to

www.request.waec.org or, via WhatsApp with the following numbers:

- 08179439269

- 07061741253

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10. WAEC Verify

This provides online access to tertiary institutions and other establishments,

for the verification of prospective students’/applicants’ results.

CONCLUSION

Gentlemen of the media, the Management and entire Staff of the Council in Nigeria,
wish to express profound gratitude to the Government of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, the Honourable Minister of Education, Minister of State for Education, the
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and the various State Governments, for
providing the enabling environment for the successful conduct of WASSCE) for
School Candidates, 2024 in Nigeria.

We wish to also extend our gratitude to all the Supervisors, Invigilators, Custodians,
Examiners and other Ad-hoc personnel and Staff for their contributions towards the
successful conduct of the examination and marking of scripts. Our sincere
appreciation equally goes to the Chairmen and Members of the Senate and the House
Committees on Education, Chairman and Members of the Nigeria Administrative and
Finance Committee of WAEC, all retired staff of the Council, friends of the Council-
ANCOPSS, etc, the Nigeria Police Force, etc and a host of others for their assistance
and cooperation before, during and after the conduct of the examination.

I thank you all, Gentlemen of the Media, for always responding to our calls and in
helping WAEC to tell its story.

Finally, we give God Almighty all the glory for always being by us and the grace to
carry on.

Thank you all and God bless.