National Examination Council (NECO) has appealed to the Federal Government to reconsider its directive on 25 percent deduction from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the council to enable it to meet up with the financial obligations of the Council.
The appeal was made by NECO Registrar and Chief Executive, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Niger State Council paid him a courtesy visit at the NECO headquarters in Minna.
Prof Wushishi said the Council was being confronted with daunting challenges including exposure of its staff to insecurity and decayed infrastructure across the country, adding that the appeal became imperative to enable the examinations body to improve on the working conditions of the staff.
He stated further that the recent upward review of Duty Travelling Allowance (DTA) by the Federal Government has increased the annual expenditure of the council where over N2 billion in the year 2021 was expended in the payment of DTA of staff.
The Registrar said the council will need the sum of N6 billion to pay DTA of its 3,525 staff under the new approved DTA regime, stressing that the council was owing a contractor over N4 billion for last year’s (2021) conducted examinations.
He further disclosed that over 40 million Nigerians have benefitted from the conduct of NECO examinations within 22 years of its establishment.
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Prof Wushishi maintained that the 22-year-old examination body is the largest indigenous examination body in Nigeria, emphasising that the council cannot afford to compromise standard and integrity in conducting examinations in Nigeria.
Earlier, the Chairman of NUJ Niger State Council, Comrade Abu Nmodu, said the aim of the visit was to familiarise himself with the Registrar and Management of the examinations umpire.
Comrade Abu Ahmodu stated further that the practising journalists under the NUJ in the state have a long history of responsible journalism, describing them as special gatekeepers of responsible media practice.
He noted that the council was the secondary gatekeeper that understands the dynamics of reporting NECO-related issues hence the need to cement synergy in the area of stamping the tide of fake news in the state.
The chairman intimated the NECO boss that the union was working assiduously to establish a fact-checking centre at the IBB Pen House with a view to making sure that NECO among other institutions in the state does not fall victim of fake news.
He informed Professor Wushishi that the Union was working on organising a Press Week in May 2022 and called on the Exams Council to take advantage of the event for robust collaboration.
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