WAEC officials detained for challenging Reps probe
Four officials of the West African Examination Council were on Tuesday arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force on the orders of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies.
The arrested officials were Amos Dangut, Head of National Office, WAEC Nigeria, who represented the Registrar; Senior Deputy Registrar, Angus Okeleze; acting Director of Finance, Victor Odu; and Deputy Director of Finance, Segun Jerumeh.
Their arrest followed a motion moved by a member of the committee, Uchenna Okonkwo, after the officials failed to give satisfactory responses to enquiries posed by the panel.
During the investigative hearing, the WAEC officials were engaged in an argument with the lawmakers as Dangut stated that the examination body was not an agency of government and, hence, not accountable to the parliament.
However, the lawmakers insisted that WAEC Nigeria was a creation of an Act of the National Assembly, hence, must render account to the parliament who are the representatives of the people.
Okonkwo said, “I would like to move a motion that while pending the investigation to look into the activities of WAEC Nigeria, the guest before us should be taken into custody and held at the police post while we seek solutions to these issues they are bringing upon Nigerians.”
The motion was seconded by the member representing Brass/Nembe Federal Constituency, Bayelsa State, Marie Ebika
Despite a protest by the WAEC officials, they were led away by the Sergeant at Arms of the National Assembly and detained for about 15 minutes.
However, after a brief closed-door session, the committee ordered their release and mandated them to go home and prepare for another appearance.
The committee chairman, Oforji Oboku, urged them to come along with the audited statement of accounts of the examination body from 2018 to 2024 at a date that will be communicated.
He also directed that they must present relevant documents concerning the N5bn loan that WAEC got in 2022 to buy customised calculators, among others.
The chairman warned that WAEC could not operate outside the supervision of the National Assembly.
“You are not different from any other agency. We are not here for a witch-hunt. WAEC is subject to Nigeria’s laws. We have reviewed the position and we have all the powers to oversight you. You cannot come here and say WAEC is not an agency of government.”
