About 23, 000 SS3 students across Zamfara State will not participate in this year’s West Africa Senior Secondary School Examination (WAEC) following the inability of the State government to pay their examination fees.

The examination body said the students would be prevented from writing their examinations due to the failure of the state government to pay for their examination fees to the appropriate authority.

The Deputy Registrar, Mr Olufemi Bamigboye, said the state was still owing examination fees for 2019, 2020 and 2021 to the tune of over one billion, six hundred thousand naira and could not pay even the current examination fees for the year 2022.

The final year students of public schools in the state have not knоwn their fate as the state government has not met with the requirements of the council with barely less than four days to the commencement of the 2022 examination.

The state government has not formally registered its candidates in the public schools for the 2022 examinations talk less of paying the arrears owed.

The Exam Chief disclosed that Zamfara State Students last year were registered following the intervention of some notable Nigerians that the state government will settle us including that of 2019 and 2020 but till this moment nothing has been done and no sign of the payment.

The three years examination fees is about one billion six hundred and five thousand (N1, 650,000) naira, the state is owing and their results have not been released due to this accumulated debt, which,she is yet to offset.

He said that he was worried over the non-participation of students in this year’s WAEC examinations and results being withheld for three years may contribute to the insecurity bedevilling the state

According to him, a total of 1,607,975 candidates from 20, 221 schools across the country registered for this year’s WASSCE which will begin by Monday, May 16, 2022.