Abuja, NIGERIA – The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has vehemently rejected the Federal Ministry of Education’s approval of an upward review of registration fees for both WAEC and NECO examinations, describing the policy as a complete failure of empathy.
The student apex body expressed its fierce opposition in a strongly worded press statement released on Saturday, July 11, 2026. Okay News reports that the outcry follows a direct directive approving the increase of both the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) registration fees to N50,000 each, bringing the baseline cost for a secondary school graduate to N100,000 before internal school charges are added.
NANS National President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, slammed the registrars of both examination bodies for proposing the astronomical hikes at a critical period when federal economic reforms have already significantly overstretched the financial capacities of average households. Akinteye argued that the unilateral policy effectively blocks the children of the poor from accessing fundamental education, warning that the severe public backlash from this insensitive timing would unfairly fall back on the presidency rather than the ministry officials who drafted it.
Demanding an immediate reversal of the fee hikes, the student union chief insisted that the Federal Ministry of Education bypassed proper process by failing to engage or consult NANS leadership before enforcing decisions that impact millions of students. The association cautioned the government that this is a season that strictly demands administrative relief rather than burdening families with unbearable bills, declaring that any educational policy executed without student representation is explicitly designed against them.
