Josiah Dangut, the Head of the National Office of the West African Examination Council Nigeria (WAEC), was on Tuesday, thoroughly grilled by the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, over a ₦6 billion deficit the agency incurred in 2023 during an investigative hearing.
The examination body was also questioned regarding the ₦5 billion loan it obtained in 2022 for the purchase of customised calculators.
Dangut was accompanied by WAEC Registrar, Angus Okeleze; Senior Deputy Registrar, Victor Odu; acting Director of Finance, Segun Jerumeh; and Deputy Director of Finance, WAEC.
He presented the agency’s cashbook to the committee, but they rejected it, insisting on the submission of the agency’s bank statements.
Following unsatisfactory responses from the WAEC representatives, the committee resolved that WAEC must submit all its bank statements from 2018 to the present within a week.
A committee member, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, described WAEC as uncooperative, emphasising the need for accountability.
“WAEC Nigeria was an uncooperative witness in this process, shielding and denying Nigerians the value of the country’s investment in that office. They should submit to this committee, in furtherance of this investigation, all the bank account statements of the office,” Abiante said.
The committee was displeased that out of eight submissions requested from the examination body to probe their expenditure, only one, the nominal roll, was provided.
The panel demanded an explanation on how WAEC generated ₦34 billion in 2023 but spent ₦40 billion.
It also questioned how the examination body could approve a loan of up to ₦5 billion when even a ministerial board could not approve such an amount.
It queried the WAEC Head about the number of students who participated in the 2022 examinations for which the ₦5 billion calculators were purchased.
The Committee demanded that WAEC provide details of the expenditures leading to the ₦6 billion deficit and all correspondence related to the purchase of the customized calculators.
They also insisted on receiving evidence of approval for the ₦5 billion loan used to purchase the customized calculators.
