By Amah
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A fresh disagreement has erupted between the Federal Government and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the approved increase in examination fees for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), with the opposition leader demanding an immediate reversal of the policy.
The Federal Government has approved a new uniform fee of ₦50,000 for candidates sitting the WAEC and NECO Senior School Certificate Examinations from 2027, representing an 82 per cent increase from the current ₦27,500.
In a statement signed by Adeniji Ibrahim, Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, the government said the approval followed a March 31, 2026 meeting between the Minister of Education and examination bodies, where the need to review examination fees was discussed. The ministry said the decision was aimed at harmonising fees for both examination bodies and confirmed that the new rate would take effect from the 2027 NECO SSCE (Internal).
The ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, also confirmed the approval.
However, Atiku faulted the decision, describing it as harsh, economically insensitive and capable of worsening Nigeria’s education crisis.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president argued that increasing examination fees at a time of soaring inflation, rising transport costs, high electricity tariffs and widespread unemployment would place quality education beyond the reach of millions of Nigerian families.
He warned that the policy could further swell the country’s already alarming population of out-of-school children, insisting that the government should be lowering barriers to education rather than creating new ones.
Atiku also criticised what he described as the contradiction of promoting student loans while making secondary education and the qualifying examinations for higher education increasingly unaffordable.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to reverse the examination fee increase, as well as the recent hike in Federal Unity Colleges’ fees, and convene stakeholders to develop sustainable funding strategies that would expand access to affordable public education.
