The Senate of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, has approved the expulsion of six students for gross examination misconduct after they were found to have rewritten an examination at a lecturer’s private residence.

The Senate also approved the withdrawal of nine other students over poor academic performance and failure to register for two consecutive semesters.

The decisions were among the major resolutions reached at the 167th Regular Meeting of the university’s Senate, held on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at the university auditorium.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Uredo Omale.

According to the statement, the university management acted on July 1, 2026, following credible information that a lecturer was coordinating students to rewrite an examination at his residence.

“On 1st July, 2026, the University Management acted based on credible information that a Lecturer was coordinating students to re-write an examination at his residence. This led to the arrest of Dr Maji Okpanachi of the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology and some students along with some exhibits from his private residence, behind the Police Area Command Office, along Idah Road, Anyigba by the security operatives of the University,” Omale stated.

She said the security report was subsequently referred to the Examination Misconduct Committee, whose findings were considered by the Senate at its 167th Regular Meeting.

“The committee report further confirmed the security report as well as the confessional statements by the Lecturer and the students involved and other available records, that some students re-wrote the examination at the lecturer’s residence, days after the examination was written.

“The committee further revealed that the affected students paid the sum of N10,000 each to the lecturer to re-write the Course: BOT102 (Introduction to Plant Science) at the residence of the course lecturer, Dr. Maji Okpanachi,” she added.

Omale said the Senate also approved the referral of Okpanachi to the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee for appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the university’s established rules and regulations.

She added that the Senate, in a related development, approved the withdrawal of nine students on grounds of poor academic performance and failure to comply with registration requirements.

Reacting to the decisions, the Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of Senate, Prof. Salisu Ogbo Usman, reaffirmed the commitment of the Senate and university management to maintaining high standards of academic excellence, discipline, integrity, patriotism and quality assurance.

He stressed that the university would not tolerate any act capable of compromising the credibility and integrity of its academic and examination processes.

Usman commended the committees involved for their thorough investigations, saying the outcome demonstrated the university’s determination to strengthen accountability and safeguard the integrity of its academic system.

He reiterated the management’s commitment to sustaining a culture of academic discipline, responsibility and ethical conduct among staff and students, stressing that the rules governing examinations and other academic activities must be respected by all members of the university community.

The Vice-Chancellor also urged students to remain focused on their studies, uphold high standards of character and learning, and comply fully with the university’s academic and examination regulations.

“The affected students have been directed to surrender all University property in their possession, including identity cards and other official items, to the appropriate authorities before exiting the University,” the PRO added.

Source: punchng.com

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The Federal Government has opened the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, an annual ₦365 million scheme designed to reward and elevate outstanding research from Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education.

Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, announced the opening of the prize on Thursday, following a press briefing with the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank National Laureate team.

He said the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by repositioning tertiary institutions as centres of research, innovation, enterprise and problem-solving rather than mere certificate-producing centres.

Prize structure

The annual prize fund of ₦365 million is structured as follows:

• Undergraduate Star Prize: ₦35 million
• Master’s Star Prize: ₦50 million
• Doctoral Star Prize: ₦100 million
• 15 Thematic Excellence Prizes: ₦12 million each, totalling ₦180 million

Across six thematic areas, one national thematic laureate is selected at each of the three academic levels — undergraduate, master’s and doctoral — producing 18 laureates in total.

Three of these receive the Star Prizes, while the remaining 15 receive the thematic awards.

The six thematic areas are Science, Engineering and Technology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Arts and Social Sciences; Agriculture; Law; and Teaching Innovation.

A special Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize, or Excellence Award, for Medicine and Medical Innovation honours the late physician whose actions helped contain Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak.

It is conferred on the laureate whose work and conduct best embody integrity, national service and protection of the public good.

Who is eligible?

The prize is open to students and researchers in every accredited tertiary institution in Nigeria — federal, state or private.

Undergraduate dissertations or recognised equivalents, master’s theses and doctoral theses, or equivalents from polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and similar institutions, are eligible if they demonstrate strong commercial potential, industrial application or clear developmental impact.

Works must meet research integrity and originality standards.

Every nominated work must first be deposited in the NERD system and issued a valid National Document Number.

An NDN confirms deposit but does not automatically enter a work into the competition.

How students can position themselves to win

Students cannot submit entries directly. Only institutions, through their formally constituted Institution Laureate Selection Committees, can nominate and enter works.

Each institution may submit up to 18 entries: up to six undergraduate, six master’s and six doctoral entries, or their equivalents, drawn from the six thematic areas, generally one per theme at each level.

To maximise their chances, students should:

• Produce exceptional work with demonstrable commercial, industrial or developmental value that addresses national challenges.
• Ensure the dissertation, project or thesis is fully submitted to NERD and assigned a valid NDN before the institutional selection window closes.
• Actively engage their supervisor, co-supervisor, head of department and other academic leaders. Ask them to present their work to the Institution Laureate Selection Committee for independent review.

Institutional selection is the first gateway. High-quality research and proper NERD compliance can improve the prospects of nomination.

How institutions submit entries

Once an institution’s Laureate Selection Committee has chosen its strongest works, authorised members follow the submission process on the National Laureate portal.

Step 1: Log in to the National Laureate Committee portal. This assumes the institution has constituted its Laureate Selection Committee and directed its NERD Focal Officer to enrol and formally designate the appointed members on NERD. Committee members require this designation to access the Laureate portal using their existing NERD credentials.

Step 2: On the Laureate Dashboard, click Manage Institution Entries from the top-right menu.

Step 3: The next page will display the dissertations, projects and theses submitted within the institution, grouped under the relevant academic levels: undergraduate, master’s and doctoral, or their recognised equivalents.

Step 4: Use the filters at the top of the page to search for a specific dissertation, project or thesis.

Step 5: Once the work the committee intends to enter is located, click View to review the submission details carefully and confirm that all information is correct.

Step 6: On the View page, click View Submission Evidence to confirm that all required departmental and institutional attestations have been supplied.

Step 7: Click Open Authoritative Student File to view the exact PDF of the dissertation, project or thesis as originally submitted.

Step 8: If everything is in order, click Back to Previous Page or Back to Dashboard to return to the relevant work.

Step 9: Tick the oath checkbox and read the declaration carefully before proceeding. By ticking the box, the committee is making the prescribed institutional declaration in respect of the entry.

Step 10: Click Submit Entry. This completes the submission process for that entry. The committee may then proceed to review and submit other eligible works.

Deadline for submission

The deadline for institutional entries is August 31, 2026.

What happens after institutional submission?

Entries progress through a three-tier process: Institution Committee, Regional (zonal) Committee, and National Committee.

The National Laureate Committee, chaired by Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sambo, oversees the final evaluation.

The process is designed to be transparent, competitive and merit-driven, with emphasis on academic excellence and impact.

Winners are expected to be honoured at a National Laureate Gala later in the year, previously indicated for November.

Source: punchng.com

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The crisis surrounding the recently released West African Examinations Council 2026 results for school candidates has deepen following an allegations of glitches and irregularities by an official of the examination body.

The Head of Examinations at the WAEC office covering in Anambra, Olanrewaju Fadehan, made the allegations in a now viral video, claiming that candidates who sat the computer-based version of the examination were particularly affected.

Fadehan alleged that the problems were noticeable around the release of the results, which he said was initially expected to be announced between August 3 and 5, 2026, adding that WAEC had traditionally released results on Mondays.

He said, “Obviously, there was a problem because the press was eagerly waiting on Monday, the scheduled date. There was a need to quickly do some last-minute adjustments. Something was wrong.”

According to him, the alleged last-minute adjustments affected candidates who sat the computer-based examination, particularly in subjects including Mathematics, English and Igbo.

He also expressed concern over reports that some candidates from the South-East performed poorly in Igbo, despite the subject being widely spoken in the region.

Fadehan said schools that invested heavily in computer-based examination facilities were also affected, alleging that some spent over N60m establishing the facilities in anticipation of the transition to CBT.

“The call for a review this year is particularly disturbing, as it is alarming. Schools that subscribed to the CBT innovation of WAEC were badly hit. Some of them spent upwards of N60m and above to set up their CBT facilities,” he alleged.

He further alleged that some candidates were not provided with appropriate calculators during the examination, claiming that the development contributed to poor performance in mathematics and other calculation-based subjects.

Fadehan said he had raised concerns about the alleged irregularities during the examination and subsequently petitioned relevant authorities, including the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies and the Minister of Education.

He alleged that rather than addressing his complaints, he was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and subsequently placed on interdiction.

“I call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to investigate the cause of failure of candidates, particularly those who chose the computer-based WAEC,” he said.

He also made allegations of financial impropriety against the management of the examination body, including claims concerning the supply of calculators, students’ identification cards and charges imposed on candidates and other service seekers.

He urged the federal government and other stakeholders to investigate the allegations, stressing that the integrity of the examination system was important to the future of Nigerian students.

When contacted for a reaction to the allegations on Thursday, the WAEC Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, declined to comment on the matter.

“No comment for now,” she said.

The PUNCH reported on August 18 that the examination body is facing growing scrutiny over the integrity of its released WASSCE results for school candidates, as school administrators and education advocates allege grading anomalies and technical glitches linked to the expanded Computer-Based Testing rollout.

The concerns had followed complaints from school administrators and education advocates who claim that some high-performing students received lower grades than expected, based on their academic records and performance in other standardised assessments.

Source: punchng.com

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