2023 Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the “recent report of students sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in appallingly dark and unfit conditions across the country”, describing it as “a national disgrace”.
The “outrage” which happened on Wednesday 28 May, 2025 after the World marked International Children’s Day “only deepens the shame”.
The former Vice President fumed, “in 2025, our children are forced to write critical national exams in pitch darkness”, saying, “It is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and utterly indefensible”.
Atiku said, “Examination preparedness is a shared responsibility between students and the examination authorities”, and advised, “going forward, it is imperative that relevant authorities establish and enforce minimum environmental and infrastructural standards for all high-stakes national examinations”.
In his reaction to the “unfortunate incident”, Atiku 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.
“This is not merely an unfortunate incident — 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 write critical national exams in pitch darkness like second-class citizens.
“This incident must awaken our national conscience. It must compel immediate and sustained investment in critical social infrastructure, with education as the foremost priority — not in rhetoric but in tangible action.
“I therefore demand, unequivocally, 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.
“Examination preparedness is a shared responsibility between students and the examination authorities. In this case, it is glaringly evident that the latter have failed spectacularly in their duty. It would be utterly unjust to allow students to suffer the consequences of such gross institutional negligence.
“Going forward, it is imperative that relevant authorities establish and enforce minimum environmental and infrastructural standards for all high-stakes national examinations. We must never allow such a shameful scenario to repeat itself — not under our watch.”
