I woke up daily to leaked NECO questions during 2025 exams — Minister

I woke up daily to leaked NECO questions during 2025 exams — Minister

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has revealed that he repeatedly received leaked NECO examination questions during the 2025 examination period, describing the experience as one of the “hardest” periods of his life.

Alausa made the disclosure while speaking at a meeting with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and other stakeholders in the education sector, where he warned that widespread examination malpractice was threatening the credibility of Nigeria’s public examination system.

The minister said he was regularly sent examination questions before candidates were scheduled to sit for the papers and that officials were sometimes able to confirm that the leaked materials matched the questions for that particular day.

According to Alausa, the experience highlighted the seriousness of the problem and showed that examination malpractice could not be treated as an issue involving students alone.

He said the practice had been tolerated in Nigeria for years, creating an unfair system in which students who prepared genuinely for examinations could be disadvantaged by candidates who gained unauthorised access to examination materials.

“It’s sad. Before she and I came, the acceptance of examination malpractice, cheating and examination leakages in this country was mind-boggling, and the country accepted it. It was a nightmare,” Alausa said.

He warned that the continued prevalence of examination malpractice could eventually influence honest students to cheat because of the pressure to compete with candidates who had access to examination questions in advance.

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“The danger was that the good students would also become bad,” he said.

Alausa also alleged that NECO examination questions had previously been obtained and sold for as little as N3,000 before the examinations.

While recounting the situation, the minister referred to Ibrahim Wushishi, a former Registrar of the National Examinations Council, and described how the name “Wushishi” was allegedly used in connection with a platform where examination questions could be obtained.

“They bought this question for N3,000. That was it. Before the examination. They called him Wushishi and bought the questions for N3,000 before the examination,” Alausa said.

The minister’s account, however, does not by itself establish that Wushishi personally sold examination questions. His remarks were made while explaining what he described as the system through which leaked examination materials were allegedly obtained.

Recounting events during the 2025 NECO examinations, Alausa said he was frequently alerted to examination questions that had allegedly been circulated before the scheduled papers.

He said the messages often arrived early in the morning, forcing him to seek immediate verification from examination officials.

“During that examination period, during the hardest time of my life, I was always worried, waking up. I would wake up to her text. She would send questions to me,” he said.

According to the minister, the materials included questions for subjects such as English and Chemistry.

He said he would forward the questions to the relevant official for verification, adding that he was sometimes told that the questions being circulated were indeed the same ones candidates were scheduled to answer that day.

“It could be English or Chemistry. I was always waking up with trepidation every morning, doing work. I would send it to the HNO and ask, ‘HNO, is this correct?’ And the answer I got was, ‘Unfortunately, that’s the question we’re doing today,’” Alausa said.

He explained that the verification process enabled authorities to establish whether the materials circulating online or through private channels were genuine examination papers.

“So, that was a more aggressive intervention because we were seeing the question and confirming from the other side,” the minister said.

Alausa said the experience convinced him that tackling examination malpractice in Nigeria required a coordinated response involving all parts of the education system.

He specifically warned parents, teachers, school proprietors, principals, invigilators and students against participating in or facilitating practices that could compromise public examinations.

The minister argued that students should not be viewed as the only source of the problem because adults within the education system could play a major role in creating opportunities for examination malpractice.

“You might be in that isolated school, but the school system is also involved. In fact, I don’t blame the students that much. Any child can be bad,” he said.

“But when we have an ecosystem where parents, schools, teachers, invigilators and principals are in full connivance, the students are the smallest players. The people who should put the deterrents in place are the ones involved.”

The minister said the Federal Government was working to strengthen measures designed to protect the integrity of public examinations in Nigeria, stressing that certificates should reflect genuine academic performance rather than access to leaked questions or unauthorised assistance.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, also called on private school proprietors and other stakeholders to support efforts to eliminate examination malpractice.

Ahmad raised concerns about students who perform exceptionally well in internal school examinations but struggle during external examinations, saying this could be an indication that some students had become dependent on unfair assistance.

She urged schools to complete their curricula on time and encourage students to prepare adequately for examinations instead of relying on leaked questions.

The government is also promoting measures such as serialised examination questions, which are intended to make it more difficult for candidates to benefit from leaked papers and other forms of examination malpractice.

The introduction of stronger examination safeguards is part of broader efforts to restore confidence in the country’s examination system and ensure that academic qualifications are based on genuine knowledge and ability.

The minister’s disclosure has renewed concerns over the security of NECO examination papers, particularly the processes involved in preparing, storing, transporting and administering examination questions.

Alausa maintained that tackling the problem would require collective responsibility, warning that examination malpractice undermines students who study and prepare honestly while weakening public confidence in the certificates awarded by Nigeria’s examination bodies.

He therefore urged parents, schools, teachers, examination officials and students to support efforts to restore integrity to the country’s public examinations.

The minister’s comments come as the Federal Government continues to push for reforms aimed at improving standards across Nigeria’s education sector and strengthening accountability within the examination process.

I woke up daily to leaked NECO questions during 2025 exams — Minister