The Federal Government has mandated the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to fully transition to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their examinations by 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement on Monday during a monitoring visit to ongoing examinations in Bwari, Abuja.
He was accompanied by officials from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), more than two million candidates are sitting for the ongoing examinations across over 800 centres nationwide.
Objective papers to commence CBT in November
Dr. Alausa revealed that WAEC and NECO would begin administering their objective (multiple-choice) papers using CBT starting from November 2025.
He emphasized that if JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for over 2.2 million candidates annually, WAEC and NECO can do the same.
“We are going to get WAEC and NECO to also start their objective exams on CBT. By 2026, exams which will come up in May/June, both the objectives and the essay will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractices,” Dr. Alausa stated.
He also disclosed that a committee is currently reviewing national examination standards, with recommendations expected to be presented next month.
JAMB defends exam scheduling, addresses complaints
Meanwhile, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, responded to concerns over the early start times for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
He clarified that the examination sessions have always started at 8:00 a.m., with candidates expected to arrive by 6:30 a.m. for accreditation.
“We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is at 8 a.m., the second at 10:30 a.m., the third at 1 p.m., and the fourth at 3:30 p.m.,” Prof. Oloyede explained.
He also dismissed claims that candidates were assigned to centres they did not choose, stating that investigations found no evidence of such occurrences.
Over 1.6 million candidates complete UTME
According to Prof. Oloyede, more than 1.6 million of the 2.03 million registered candidates have already completed their exams, with around 50,000 candidates still expected to sit for theirs.
He revealed that over 40 candidates had been arrested for various forms of malpractice, including impersonation and the use of hidden cameras to smuggle exam questions.
Prof. Oloyede further noted that over 41,000 registered candidates were found to be underage.
