… May pay N200,000 fine as option
SAN FRANCISCO, September 04, (THEWILL) – Candidates who cheat during examinations conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) now face a five year prison term as punishment or pay a fine of N200,000 as an option.
Indications to this development emerged on Wednesday as the Federal Government at its weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting approved the enactment of an Act to amend the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Act, CAP W4, Laws of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004 to give effect to the revised convention of WAEC, 2003 in Nigeria.
Disclosing this while briefing State House correspondents after the meeting in Abuja, Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, said with the new Act, examination cheats in the country now risk going to jail for five years or pay N200,000 fine as option.
According to the 2004 Act, to which an amendment is being sought, WAEC is empowered to take disciplinary action against those who have committed both the offences and penalties for illegally using examination papers and leakage of examination papers, etc.
Section 19(1) of the Act reads in part: “Such candidate shall not take or be allowed to take or continue the examination, in addition, he shall be prohibited from taking any examination held or conducted by or on behalf of the Council for a period of two years immediately following upon such contraventions and if a candidate aforesaid has already taken any papers at the examination, his result therefrom shall be cancelled.”
The candidate, according to the Act, may be prosecuted and if found guilty shall be “liable on conviction to a fine of N200,000 or imprisonment for a term of five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
Section 20 (2) of the Act also reads: “The penalties contained in this sub-section (a) may be imposed whether or not a prosecution for an offence under section 20 or 21 of this Act has been brought or is being conducted or contemplated and (b) shall be in addition to such other penalties as a court may impose upon conviction for an offence under the aforesaid section 20 or 21.”
The minister who tabled a memo before the Council, had stated the need to domesticate the revised convention establishing the WAEC,saying “The ordinances have been replaced with the conventions which confers legal personality on the Council as an international organisation.”
According to the memo, “The Council” established in 1952 and operated in Gold Coast (Ghana) , Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia and Liberia “now operates under a revised convention signed in 2003 and functions through committees.”
Following the approval of the amendment, the Federal Government therefore directed the Ministry of Justice to take further necessary action to effect the requested amendment.
The Federal Government also at the approved a policy on the Establishment of National HealthCare Waste Management for Nigeria. The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu and his environment counterpart, Hajiya Hadiza Mailafiya , had jointly presented a memo to FEC on the need for the policy.
The memo noted that as a signatory to the Basel Convention on control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and disposal, “Nigeria at present does not have a coordinated healthcare waste management system, especially in the area of segregation, collection, storage, treatment and disposal.”
The environment minister said the Federal Government, having deliberated the matter, approved the adoption of the national health waste management policy and guidelines, and the establishment of the proposed National steering committee, taking cognizance of the fact that in the past “it has made some efforts in form of provision of high temperature incinerators at tertiary health facilities which form part of the healthcare policy and strategic plan.”
The government also approved the draft National Fire Safety Code which is expected to be implemented nationwide.
The National Fire Safety Code prescribes minimum standards for the establishment of a reasonable level of fire safety, property protection from hazards resulting from fire, explosion and hazardous materials.
A post council document made available to State House Correspondents noted that : ‘The code had become an urgent necessity in view of the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation that require safety inputs in the construction industry and town planning as well as industrial chemical processes.”
Accordingly, “The National Fire Safety Code stipulates safety requirements in buildings estate, markets and similar structures which must be met before approval of building development plans are granted by relevant authorities.”
