News

WASSCE: WAEC apprehends supervisors, candidates involved in exam malpractice

Published

7 years ago

June 3, 2019

Eric

The West African Examinations Council has said that it has arrested some supervisors and candidates, who tried to undermine the integrity of its ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

The council’s Head, National Office, Mr Olu Adenipekun, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos.

NAN reports that the May/June WASSCE began on Monday, April 8 nationwide and in all the member countries.

According to Adenipekun, the conduct of the examination, expected to be concluded this week, had been smooth.

“I just want to report that quite a number of candidates have been arrested, including some supervisors in different parts of the country, during the conduct of this examination.

“For the candidates, I may not be able to give you the number now but that of the supervisors, it is four or five,” the Adenipekun told NAN.

He said that the apprehended candidates smuggled their telephones into the examination hall and attempted to use them to take photos of some of the pages of the question papers to share via Whatsapp platform.

“This was for their collaborators outside to provide answers to the questions and then return same to them via the same platform.

“We also had supervisors, about four or five of them, who also got involved in this kind of examination malpractice.

“They got to their various schools, opened the bag containing the question papers, and the first thing they did before distributing the papers to candidates was to use their telephones to snap pages of these question papers and equally post to their mercenaries outside,’’ he said.

According to him, if a paper is supposed to start by 9.30 a.m. for instance, and by that same time, someone has posted it on social media, the council will have no choice than to query the supervisors.

“Unfortunately for them all, we already have a tracking system that allows us to detect this malpractice very quickly.

“For instance, right here in Lagos, I can easily tell my officers on the field that a certain candidate in a certain school at a certain centre has just posted pages of the question papers on Whatsapp at a particular time. So, please go there and pick him or her up.

“This has yielded a lot of results because, as we all know, this is a technological fraud.

“The best way to fight it is also to deploy technology which has been of tremendous success in tracking and monitoring during the conduct of our examination,’’ he said

News

Otunba of Lagos Adekunle Ojora is Dead

Published

2 days ago

January 28, 2026

Eric

A former Chairman of the Board of AGIP Nigeria Limited and Otunba of Lagos, Adekunle Ojora, is dead. He was aged 93.

The popular business tycoon reportedly died on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

Details soon…

News

Diezani Appears in London Court, Denies Bribery Allegations

Published

2 days ago

January 28, 2026

Eric

Former Nigerian petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke on Tuesday denied multiple bribery charges as her trial opened at Southwark Crown Court in London, where prosecutors accused her of living a “life of luxury” funded by illicit payments.

British prosecutors told the court that Alison-Madueke, 65, accepted bribes between 2011 and 2015 while serving as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to the prosecution, individuals seeking “lucrative oil and gas contracts” with Nigeria’s state-owned oil company provided her with “significant financial and other advantages” in exchange for influence.

“She should not have accepted benefits from those doing extremely lucrative business with government-owned entities,” the prosecutor said.

Alison-Madueke is accused of receiving financial and other inducements from individuals linked to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups, which secured contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries.

The court heard that the alleged benefits included £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, private jet flights, refurbishment work and staff costs at London properties, as well as school fees for her son and luxury items from stores such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton.

Alison-Madueke, who also served as president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries from 2014 to 2015, has been linked to several legal cases globally, including in the United States.

In Nigeria, courts seized properties belonging to her and valued at several million dollars in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission still has pending cases against the former minister.

She has been on bail since her arrest in London in October 2015 and formally charged in 2023. She has consistently denied all allegations.

The UK National Crime Agency said at the time it suspected she had “abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.”

Two others, Doye Agama, her brother, and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also standing trial on related bribery charges.

Trial Judge, Justine Thornton said she hoped the trial would conclude by April 24.

News

Tinubu Stumbles, Falls During Welcome Reception in Turkey

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

Eric

The incident occurred as he walked alongside Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

Tinubu appeared to have missed his step but was quickly assisted by officials, helping him regain his balance.

Tinubu had arrived at the Turkish presidential palace with a black limousine car.

Immediately after Tinubu alighted from the car, the military band played Nigeria’s national anthem, which was followed by the Turkish national anthem.

After the band’s rendition, there was a moment when the Turkish president used his hands to adjust Tinubu’s body to properly face the band.

Tinubu had departed Abuja for the state visit to Turkey on Monday, to strengthen the “existing cordial relations between the two countries and exploring further areas of cooperation in security, education, social development, innovation, and aviation”, according to a statement by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.