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FG Considers Replacing 2020 WASSCE with GCE
The Federal Government has said Nigerian students may be asked to sit for the General Certificate Examinations (GCE) holding in November if the country fails to meet up with this year’s timetable for the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination(WASSCE).
The GCE is a private examination which is only offered in November and the results are available by December.
The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, made this known at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 meeting on Thursday.
The minister explained the shift may become necessary since the WASSCE cannot be rescheduled for any reason.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian government reversed its earlier announcement on the resumption of schools.
It also said no Nigerian school will participate in the WASSCE earlier scheduled from August 5 to September 5.
The decision was made to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students who usually gather in large numbers during the yearly examination.
Also, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia have begun discussions on postponing the WASSCE.
However, Mr Nwajuiba said there was already a negotiated timeline to move local language subjects such as Ibo, Yoruba and Hausa as offered in Nigeria, behind from their usual spots as first written subjects.
This is to allow all participating countries the needed time to write the general subjects at the same time if Nigeria is able to meet up with the WAEC timetable.
“Nigeria is not moving away from it, the option would have been to go to November to take the GCE external exams. Nigeria is carefully studying that if in the event everything fails, we may go to that,” he said.
“In the guideline, there is a checklist of the requirements to be put in place and we have given a cut off date so we can know who needs help,” he said.
According to him, “we need to know if the teachers cannot be provided with masks, if the school is unable to do that we need to know ahead because states that have given dates for resumption of schools are setting a timetable along the lines we have already explained and they are free to do this.
“Many states have come to say they are unable to meet up with that date that is why the minister requested WAEC give us and the schools some time to meet up,” he said.
He said the government will work out a ‘domestication module’ that will take “our peculiar subjects behind after we have done general (subjects). This will buy us the time we need for all of us to be at par with the rest of West Africa and operating at the same time because the unanimity with which WAEC has always worked is still very important to us.
“WAEC unfortunately, is unable to wholesomely move the exams but we have also worked out a negotiated timeline with WAEC on what we call peculiar Nigerian subjects. These are subjects that are only held in Nigeria such as Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba. The Ghanaians will take examinations peculiar to them,” he said.
Premium Times
President Bola Tinubu has insisted on his earlier directive ordering the withdrawal of police officers from very important persons (VIPs) in the country.
On November 23, Tinubu ordered the immediate withdrawal of police officers attached to VIPs across the country during a security meeting with the inspector-general of police (IGP), the chiefs of army and air staff, and the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The president said the move was aimed at boosting police presence in communities, especially remote areas where stations are understaffed and citizens remain vulnerable to attacks.
The president ordered Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the minister of interior, to make arrangements for the replacement of police officers by civil defence corps.
“If you have any problem because of the nature of your assignments, please contact the IGP and get my clearance,” he said.
“The National Security and Civil Defence Corps are trained for VIP protection, and they are armed too.
“We face challenges here and there of kidnapping, banditry and terrorism. We need all forces utilised. I know some people are exposed; we will make the exceptions. The civil defence is very much around.”
Tinubu said there is a need to mobilise the police appropriately due to the country’s security challenges.
Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Announcing his defection on Tuesday evening, Fubara said the move is a reciprocity to the overwhelming support, which the State has received from President Bola Tinubu.
The defection ends months of speculation about whether the governor would join the APC, which many believed was part of a peace agreement between him and the President.
Meanwhile, Fubara held a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.
Reports said the governor arrived at around 5pm for the meeting dressed in a deep-blue long-sleeve shirt, black trousers, and a black flat cap.
Minutes earlier, Ebonyi State governor, Francis Nwifuru, had been ushered in for a separate engagement. Details of both meetings were not undisclosed.
But specifically, Fubara’s visit had raised suspicion to the rumour that he might defect from the PDP to the APC following political turbulence in Rivers State.
His announcement on Tuesday has confirmed the rumours.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has denied an application filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, seeking his transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre to a custodial facility within the Federal Capital Territory or the neighbouring Nasarawa State.
Kanu, represented by the Legal Aid Council, submitted an ex-parte application requesting an order that would direct the Federal Government or the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to transfer him from the Sokoto facility to either the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja or the Keffi Custodial Centre in Nasarawa.
He requested a transfer to any custodial facility within the court’s jurisdiction, such as Suleja or Keffi, to allow him to effectively pursue his appeal.
However, Justice James Omotosho denied the request on Monday, stating that such an order could not be granted without first hearing from the Federal Government.
The judge directed Kanu to convert the ex-parte application into a motion on notice and serve all parties to allow fair hearing.
The case was subsequently fixed January 27, 2026, for the hearing of the motion.
