FG moves to establish special tribunal for exam malpractice cases

In a decisive move to curb widespread examination misconduct, the Federal Government is proposing the creation of a dedicated National Examination Malpractice Court/Tribunal.

The initiative aims to ensure swift prosecution of offenders and set a clear deterrent for future infractions.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known in Abuja during the formal handover of a report by a committee set up to enhance the integrity and quality of examinations across the country.

The 17-member panel, chaired by Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), submitted a 12-point recommendation for reform. Dr. Alausa confirmed the federal government’s readiness to implement the recommendations in full.

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“Let me assure all the committee members that you have done so much work here, and all the recommendations you have given us as a government, we will implement every single one of them,” Alausa said.“All the 12 recommendations that you reeled out, everyone will agree with me today that none of them will be impossible to implement.“They are all practicable things. Those that will be implemented now, we will do that right away,” he added.

PlatinumPost recalls that the committee was inaugurated in January and submitted its interim report after five months of deliberations.

Among its proposals, the committee advised the Federal Ministry of Education to collaborate with the National Assembly on legislation to establish the examination tribunal. This would empower the justice system to swiftly handle cheating cases and discourage academic dishonesty.

To further tighten security and enhance identity verification, the panel recommended that certificates, registration documents, and result slips carry each candidate’s National Identification Number (NIN), photograph, and date of birth.

“All Invigilators and Supervisors must register through NIN and subscribe to the examination body’s Short Code, using the same pattern of 55019/66019 of JAMB in order so track and have full information about the examination officials, including examiners, supervisors and invigilators,” the report stated.

It also advised that supervisors and invigilators be rotated starting from the 2025 private Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), in response to concerns raised by examination bodies including WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, and NBAIS.Where possible, these officials should be career public servants or teachers with pensionable appointments, the committee said.

Recommendations also included strict adherence to standard examination hall specifications—stipulating a seating space of at least 1.8 square meters per candidate—and the mandatory installation of fixed CCTV systems at all centres.

“In addition, every examination centre shall have a mini control room where the CCTV camera is monitored for urgent and immediate alert,” the report noted.

To further streamline operations, the committee proposed that examination bodies share central control facilities to reduce costs. It also called for the use of wearable body cameras to enhance on-site monitoring.

A significant long-term measure included assigning a unique code, tied to the NIN, to every pupil at the time of entry into basic education, ensuring consistent identity tracking throughout their academic journey.

The committee observed that the 1999 Examination Malpractice Act had seen little implementation, citing political inertia or impracticality. It called for an immediate review of the law to make it enforceable.

“Rather than wait till 2027 as initially suggested, the Computer Based Examination (CBE) should be implemented for objective questions in 2025 private examinations and in full for school candidates in 2026,” the report added.

The panel also addressed the corruption associated with the current 30% Continuous Assessment (CA) component of the SSCE. Due to manipulation of scores submitted after-the-fact, the committee recommended a complete overhaul of the CA system by relevant agencies.