Friday, September 4, 2026 - The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has revealed how
examination questions were allegedly obtained for N3,000 before the conduct of
the National Examinations Council examinations, describing the level of
examination malpractice in the country as “mind-boggling.”
Alausa made the revelation on Thursday at a meeting with the
National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and other stakeholders
in the education sector, where he warned parents, teachers, proprietors,
principals, invigilators and students against practices capable of undermining
the integrity of public examinations.
The minister said examination malpractice had, for years,
been tolerated in Nigeria, creating an unfair system in which students who
prepared genuinely for examinations were disadvantaged by those who gained
access to leaked questions.
According to him, the situation was particularly dangerous
because it could push honest students into malpractice as they sought to
compete with candidates who had access to examination materials before the
tests.
Alausa said, “It’s sad. Before she (Minister of State for
Education) and I came, the acceptance of examination malpractice, cheating and
examination leakages in this country was mind-boggling, and the country
accepted it. It was a nightmare,” adding that the “danger was that the good
students would also become bad.”
The minister, while recounting his experience in the fight
against examination malpractice, alleged that examination questions had
previously been made available for sale before candidates sat for the
examinations.
He said, “The Registrar of NECO at the time had a name. His
name was (Ibrahim) Wushishi. You would go to Wushishi… I didn’t know that
Wushishi meant going to the dark website.
“They bought his question for N3,000. That was it. Before
the examination. They called him Wushishi and bought the questions for N3,000
before the examination.”
Alausa also recalled his experience during the 2025
examination period, saying he was regularly sent examination questions
allegedly obtained before candidates sat for the papers.
He said the development forced officials to verify the
questions with examination authorities, sometimes confirming that the questions
being circulated were actually the ones scheduled for the day.
He said, “During that examination period, during the hardest
time of my life, I was always worried, waking up. I would wake up to her text.
She would send questions to me… She would say, ‘I just got this question.’
“It could be English or Chemistry. I was always waking up
with trepidation every morning, doing work. I would send it to the HNO and ask,
‘HNO, is this correct?’ And the answer I got was, ‘Unfortunately, that’s the
question we’re doing today.’
“So, that was a more aggressive intervention because we were
seeing the question and confirming from the other side.”
The minister said the revelations demonstrated that
examination malpractice was not simply a student problem, insisting that the
wider education ecosystem must take responsibility for curbing the practice.
He noted that parents, schools, teachers, invigilators and
principals all had roles to play in preventing candidates from gaining unfair
access to examination materials.
Alausa said, “You might be in that isolated school, but the
school system is also involved. In fact, I don’t blame the students that much.
Any child can be bad.
“But when we have an ecosystem where parents, schools,
teachers, invigilators and principals are in full connivance, the students are
the smallest players. The people who should put the deterrents in place are the
ones involved.”
He warned that the Federal Government would strengthen
measures to protect the integrity of public examinations and ensure that
academic qualifications reflected genuine learning and merit.
The minister said the reforms were part of President Bola
Tinubu’s broader efforts to restore standards and reposition Nigeria’s
education system.
He said, “This is a country with the rule of law. President
Bola Ahmed Tinubu is transforming this country in a way that’s never been
transformed before. This is Nigeria’s renaissance that we’re building to be
sustainable into the future.”
He added that the country had for too long tolerated
practices that undermined its education system, but said the Tinubu
administration was determined to reverse the trend.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad,
also called on private school proprietors and other stakeholders to support the
reforms, noting that stronger examination controls could initially expose
weaknesses in students’ actual preparation.
Ahmad explained that some students who appeared to perform
exceptionally well in internal examinations might have become accustomed to
accessing leaked questions ahead of external examinations.
She said the introduction of serialised
examination questions would make it more difficult for candidates to rely on
leaked materials, while encouraging genuine preparation.
The minister urged schools to complete their
curricula on schedule and promote consistent study among students, assuring
private education stakeholders that the Federal Ministry of Education would
continue to engage them during the implementation of the reforms.
The latest warning comes amid longstanding
concerns over examination malpractice in Nigeria, including question-paper
leakages, impersonation, collusion and unauthorised assistance to candidates.
The Federal Government’s renewed emphasis on
examination integrity is aimed at ensuring that results from public
examinations provide a credible assessment of students’ knowledge and
abilities, while protecting candidates who prepare and compete fairly.
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