The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has refuted allegations that it was involved in unethical activities to collaborate with influential individuals in election cases in court.
Reports on social media alleged that a top WAEC director at its headquarters in Lagos State received huge sums of money to conceal and manipulate academic records on the WAEC database in favour of the defendants.
The reports claimed that WAEC was complicit in denying all litigants access to examination records as proof of an influential individual facing legal action, noting that an investigative agency had gone to Ghana and completed investigations while efforts to do so in Nigeria were thwarted by some WAEC officials.
WAEC spokesperson, Moyosola Adesina, in a statement, described the allegations as baseless, malicious, and mischievous.
Adesina stated that it is laughable and insulting to claim that WAEC officials collected bribes to pervert the course of justice and noted that it will never be intimidated to do anything unethical as an organisation guided by the principles of professionalism and integrity.
The examination body stated that it would have ignored the allegations, but it decided to do some clarification and enlightenment for the benefit of the Nigerian public.
WAEC said it is a lawful entity that respects the judiciary and willingly appears in court when subpoenaed, adding that on several occasions, the organisation has been summoned to court to verify the authenticity of results and certificates tendered by plaintiffs, and it has always cooperated accordingly.
In response to specific allegations, WAEC noted that its Ghana office has no involvement in the outcomes of Nigerian candidates, just as Nigeria has no control over the outcomes of Ghanaian candidates.
“Therefore, saying that some investigating agency had gone to Ghana and had concluded investigations on a matter, only to be blocked on the same matter in Nigeria, is a lie from the pit of hell,” WAEC said.
“How can the Ghana office, or even the headquarters, speak on a matter they know nothing about? No member country has other member countries’ results, records, and documents.
“WAEC has always and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement and security agencies whenever it is called upon to provide documents and records to aid their investigations on matters.
“We do not respond to enquiries by private individuals, non-government agencies, and law firms not authorised by courts. Bonafide candidates’ requests are also attended to.”
In addition, WAEC stated that once a candidate loses his or her certificate, he or she can only request a confirmation of Result or Attestation of Result (AOR).
“The AOR will bear the current passport photograph of the candidate. Whereas certificates are co-signed by the sitting Registrar and current Chairman of Council, AoR is co-signed by the sitting Registrar and Head of National Office (HNO),” Adesina said
Adesina said there is no such thing as a duplicate certificate.
“Once a candidate receives their certificate from WAEC, it cannot be reissued, and in cases where external agencies doubt the authenticity of a certificate, WAEC can provide a ‘Certified True Copy’ upon submission of the original certificate.”
