Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described as a national disgrace and systemic failure the videos showing some Nigerian students taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in darkness due to power outage.

Mr Abubakar’s reaction was contained in a statement on Thursday.

Some candidates for the 2025 WASSCE sat the English Language Paper 2 in darkness as late as 10:00 p.m. and extended into past 12:00 a.m. on Thursday.

It was also gathered that some secondary school students in states started the examination between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., though the paper was originally slated for 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Reacting to the development, Mr Abubakar said, “The recent report of students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in appallingly dark and unfit conditions across the country is nothing short of a national disgrace. That this outrage occurred just a day after the world marked International Children’s Day only deepens the shame.’’

He stated that the incident “must compel immediate and sustained investment in critical social infrastructure. It is a damning indictment of our systemic failure to uphold the most basic standards in public education. It is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and utterly indefensible that in 2025, our children are forced to take critical national exams in pitch darkness like second-class citizens.”


Berating the exam organisers for failing in their duties, Mr Abubakar demanded that “the affected examination paper be retaken in all compromised centres. Anything less would be a grave injustice to the students whose futures hang in the balance.”