For failure to pay examination fees of its students National Examination Council, NECO, has withheld results of the over 30,000 students of Niger State. Following this development, affected students risk forfeiting their admissions into higher institutions for one or more years.
It was gathered that the lean purse of the state government has hindered the release of funds to pay fees leading to the huge debt. It said that students who graduated in 2019 and 2020 from Niger State are yet to access their results due the debt .
Recall that the state government had earlier said it would not pay the NECO fees of non-indigenes and indigent students who did not get seven credits in the mock examinations organized by the state government. However, it was gathered that the non-indigent students who paid the NECO fees to the state government are still unable to access their results because NECO said such fees were not remitted to it by the state government. Parents of the affected students are now in a dilemma and are appealing to the state government to expedite action in settling the debt for the sake of their children.
An official of the ministry however confirmed that the state owed NECO some money, adding that steps were being taken to resolve the issue.
