House Committee Queries WAEC over N6bn Deficit Incurred in 2023, N5bn Loan

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, has queried the. West African Examination Council (WAEC) Nigeria over a N6 billion deficit the agency incurred in 2023.

The Committee while interrogating the Head of National Office,  Josiah Dangut, at an investigative hearing held on Tuesday in Abuja further  grilled the examination body over a loan of N5 billion it got in 2022 for the purchase of customised calculators.

Dangut was accompanied by the Registrar, Angus Okeleze; Senior Deputy Registrar, Victor Odu; Acting Director of Finance, Segun Jerumeh, and Deputy Director of Finance, WAEC.

The committee queried the WAEC on the number of students that participated in the 2022 examination that it got the calculators for.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Oboku Oforji, maintained that there was a need for the examination body  to explain how WAEC generated N34 billion in 2023 but spent N40 billion.

He wondered how the examination body could approve a loan of up to N5 billion, when even a Ministerial Board could not approve such an amount.

Following the unsatisfactory response by the WAEC representatives, the committee resolved that WAEC must submit all its bank statements from 2018 till date within a week.

Dangut provided the cash book of the agency to the committee, but they declined, insisting that it must submit its bank statements.

A member of the Committee, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, described WAEC as uncooperative, saying they must be held accountable.

According to him, “WAEC Nigeria was an uncooperative witness in this process, shielding and denying Nigerians of having value for whatever investment the country has had in that office should submit to this committee in furtherance of this investigation all the bank account statements of his office.”

The committee, therefore, demanded that WAEC must provide the expenditures that have led to the N6 billion deficits and all correspondence related to the purchase of customised calculators.

It said evidence of approval for the N5 billion loan to purchase the customised calculators must also be provided

The committee further demanded evidence of due process followed for the award of the contract as well as evidence of payment, including payment vouchers and bank records.

It equally asked for evidence of submission of accounts to the Auditor General for the federation from 2018 to 2023, as well as the profile of the external auditor for the agency and the engagement letters for the past three years.