WAEC: Exam cheats to pay N200,000 fine

A bill seeking to provide stiffer penalties
against examination malpractice passed
second reading at the House of
Representatives on Thursday.
It sought to amend the existing West African
Examination Council Act, 2004, to provide
penalties of up to N200,000 against offenders.
Leading the debate on the bill, the House
Majority Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, said
there was the need to amend Sections 20/21
of the Principal Act to incorporate the new
fine.
From the current fine of N2,000, the
amendment sought to increase it to
N200,000.
Akande-Adeola added, "Furthermore, because
of the high incidence of examination
malpractice, the Council thought it fit to
amend the whole of Section 19 of the
Principal Act, providing the offences
constituting such malpractice to include
illegal possession of examination papers.
"Having fore-knowledge of the contents of an
examination paper or making use of an
examination paper or the content of it in any
manner whatsoever without lawful authority."
The majority leader also informed the House
that Nigeria had yet to domesticate the 2013
Convention of WAEC.
She stated that despite being a major financier
of WAEC, the country had not domesticated
the convention. She said the bill also sought
to domesticate the convention.
"Nigeria is the only country of the five
countries constituting the council's
membership that has not ratified the
convention", the majority leader added.
The other countries are Ghana, Liberia, Sierra
Leone and The Gambia. The bill passed second
reading in a unanimous voice vote at the
session, which was presided over by the
Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal.