Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara has disclosed that students in the state were unable to participate in WAEC and NECO examinations for two consecutive years due to outstanding debts amounting to ₦3.2 billion.
During an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television on Wednesday, Lawal detailed the financial and educational challenges he encountered upon taking office in May 2023, noting that settling the backlog of unpaid examination fees was one of the first urgent issues his administration tackled.
“Things were bad when we took over. For two good years, our students couldn’t write WAEC or NECO because of debts. We had to clear ₦3.2 billion in outstanding payments. Today, all pending certificates from previous years have been released,” he said.
He stated that more than 450 primary and secondary schools have been rehabilitated so far, and a state of emergency was declared in the education sector.
The governor also revealed that his administration inherited ₦13.6 billion in unpaid pension liabilities dating back to 2011. However, he noted that all outstanding pensions and gratuities have been cleared without taking any loans, relying entirely on internally generated revenue (IGR).
