The Federal Government has ordered the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to fully adopt Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their examinations by 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known on Monday while monitoring the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Abuja, alongside officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over two million candidates are participating in the ongoing UTME across more than 800 centres nationwide.
Dr. Alausa disclosed that WAEC and NECO would commence administering their objective papers through CBT starting November this year, while full CBT deployment — including essay papers — would begin by May/June 2026.
“If JAMB can successfully conduct CBT exams for over 2.2 million candidates, WAEC and NECO can do the same,” Alausa said. “By 2026, both objectives and essay components will be conducted fully via CBT. This will help curb examination malpractice significantly.”
The minister also revealed that a committee is currently reviewing examination standards across the country, with recommendations expected next month.
Meanwhile, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, during the monitoring exercise, clarified that UTME examinations have always started by 8:00 a.m., while candidates are expected to arrive by 6:30 a.m. for accreditation.
“We have always started exams at 8 o’clock. The second session is at 10:30 a.m., the third at 1 p.m., and the fourth at 3:30 p.m. Early arrival is necessary to complete screening processes before exams commence,” he explained.
Oloyede dismissed complaints over candidates being posted to centres they did not select, stating that investigations showed no evidence of such incidents.
He further disclosed that out of 2.03 million registered candidates, more than 1.6 million had completed their exams, with about 50,000 candidates yet to sit for theirs.
The registrar also confirmed that over 40 candidates had been arrested for various examination malpractices, including impersonation and smuggling out exam questions using hidden cameras. He added that over 41,000 underage candidates registered for this year’s UTME.
