Niger House of Assembly on Tuesday summoned the Commissioner for Education, Hannatu Salihu, to appear before its committee on education on April 13.

This is to enable her to explain how the state government could not pay the N295 million owed to the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

The debt has led to the withholding of results of Niger students by the examination body.

The Speaker, Abdullahi Bawa, read the Assembly’s resolution following a motion moved by Mohammed Haruna (APC-Bida II) and debated by members.

Mr Haruna had, in his motion, called on the state government to pay the backlog of WAEC fees, saying the results of some students were withheld because of non-payment of the outstanding fees.

He said that the state government paid only N50 million out of more than N345 million it was initially owning WAEC, leaving an outstanding balance of more than N295 million.

Mr Haruna stressed that students whose results were not released were waiting for the government to pay up the debt before their results could be released to enable them to seek admission into tertiary institutions.

“Unless we as representatives of the people rise and rescue these students who are future leaders, their dreams of getting an education may be a mirage,’’ he noted.

Mr Haruna added that the debt was raising concerns among parents and urged the government to settle the debt without further delay. 

(NAN)