Atiku kicks as WAEC candidates write exam in darkness, demands resit, says it’s disgraceful

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar,  has described as a “national disgrace” the conditions under which students in various parts of Nigeria were forced to sit for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination in darkness.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in a statement demanded a resit of the affected examination paper, in the light of  widespread reports of students writing their exams in dark and unfit environments across the country.

According to statement, the development is a “damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.

“The recent report of students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in appallingly dark and unfit conditions across the country is nothing short of a national disgrace. That this outrage occurred just a day after the world marked International Children’s Day only deepens the shame,” it further read.

“This is not merely an unfortunate incident — it is a damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education.

“It is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and utterly indefensible that in 2025, our children are forced to write critical national exams in pitch darkness like second-class citizens.”

Calling for a resit of the affected examination paper in all affected centres, Atiku warned that anything less would be a “grave injustice to the students whose futures hang in the balance.

“This incident must awaken our national conscience. It must compel immediate and sustained investment in critical social infrastructure, with education as the foremost priority — not in rhetoric but in tangible action.”

He condemned the authorities for failing to provide conducive conditions for the students who had prepared for the exam, adding that it would be “utterly unjust to allow students to suffer the consequences of such gross institutional negligence.

“We must never allow such a shameful scenario to repeat itself — not under our watch,” he wrote.

Videos had trended inline on Wednesday, showing candidates sitting for the 2025 WASSCE English Language examination late at night without electricity, using lanterns and mobile phone flashlights.

The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, had apologized, blaming the the delay in the conduct of the 2025 English Language paper on efforts to check examination malpractice.