The NABTEB is an examination board which conducts the Ordinary Level Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination; Advanced Level General Certificate Examination; Modular Trade certificate (formerly known as trade test) and National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for admission into technical colleges.
The National Business & Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) and its registrar, Professor Ifeoma Isiugo, have been accused of financial corruption, non-production of certificates since 2016 and nonpayment of workers’ entitlements.
The NABTEB is an examination board which conducts the Ordinary Level Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination; Advanced Level General Certificate Examination; Modular Trade certificate (formerly known as trade test) and National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for admission into technical colleges.
However, sources close to the examination board told SaharaReporters that the Board is enmeshed in corruption allegedly spearheaded by its Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Prof (Mrs) Ifeoma Isiugo.
One of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the registrar who assumed office in August 2016 had not produced any certificate for candidates who took various examinations to date and that staff members of the board were always underpaid for assignments.
“She has not produced a single certificate since 2016 November/December. She assumed the role of the Chief Registrar in August 2016 and has not printed one certificate of the examination she has conducted since the inception of her term,” the source said.
According to the source who has spent many years working with the organisation, the decay and rot in the system is massive.
The source said, “The supervisors who conduct examinations have not been paid their supervisor fee of ordinary N15,000 for an examination that lasts for one month. However, I doubt if the N15,000 is the exact amount they (NABTEB) claimed from the government.
“I heard from a reliable source that the money they are to pay each supervisor is between N35,000 and N45,000 but the management has been paying supervisors N15,000 in the last 10 years but I doubt that the government is aware of this.”
The sources said that NABTEB also owes supervisors for three examinations conducted in November/December 2022; May/June 2023 and November/December 2023 respectively.
The sources further alleged that while NABTEB ought to be paying the invigilator/coordinator a fee of N14,000 each for the schools that the Board used their venue to conduct the examinations, the organisation owes two years' payment for examinations conducted in 2022 and 2023.
One of the sources said, “For the staff assignment fee, they are expected to be paid an assignment fee for 30 days for the duration of the exams, but the Board pays them for only 4-5 days and allows bank staff or police officers at the custodian (where supervisors pick examination papers) to give out questions to supervisors without any proper monitoring, thereby encouraging examination malpractices.”
A custodian is a place close to each school in the local government area where NABTEB keeps question papers to be distributed and answer sheets returned and packed inside designated envelopes.
According to sources, while other examination bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) pay custodians over N20,000 each, NABTEB pays only N5,000.
“This has made some police stations and banks reject their question papers to be distributed at their premises because they usually complain that NABTEB pays less than other examination bodies,” one of the sources said.
One of the sources further told SaharaReporters that “NABTEB has refused to pay practical examiners - who record and score candidates taking technical examinations - for over five examinationss conducted in the last two years.
“It will interest you to know that N2,500 is the amount NABTEB pays its practical examiners,” a source said.
However, when contacted, the NABTEB registrar who responded through her Assistant Director (Press), denied all the allegations, describing them as false and unfounded.
The Assistant Director (Press) in a message sent to SaharaReporters via WhatsApp said, “We received your communication to the Registrar of NABTEB, and I wish to inform you that the information you received is false and unfounded.
“You may wish to visit the Board to verify your information if need be in order to find out the true situation.”