After three days of industrial action, striking workers of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) have temporarily halted their protest while renewing pressure on authorities to remove Amos Dangut, the head of the council’s national office.
The workers, who embarked on a three-day protest across the country over alleged unfair labour practices and welfare concerns, which ended on Friday, affirmed the suspension of the industrial action, and the demand for the removal of the head of the national office of WAEC-Nigeria.
Kayode Ogunyade, chairman of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), WAEC, disclosed that the union had updated its agitation to a single demand, which is the removal of Amos Dangut, the head of national office.
“The only subject we have now is that we have decided to put aside all other demands. We are now asking for one demand, removal of the head of national office,” he said.
The fresh demand for Dangut’s removal follows a nine-and-a-half-hour meeting between NASU branch leadership and WAEC management on Thursday, which ended in a deadlock.
He alleged that the head of national office is not willing to address the contentious issues raised by the workers, noting that their original demands were nine but increased to 12 during the agitation.
“But out of the 12 issues,” he pointed out, “management only agreed to address five, which are less critical, leaving out the remaining seven.”
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The WAEC union leader emphasised that the matter should not have degenerated to this level if management had handled it with caution, especially with final-year secondary school students nationwide taking their terminal examinations.
“We were initially moderate in our approach to show concern for the students, but management’s unfavourable handling of the issues forced our hands,” he stated.
Workers’ demands include the suspension of staff upgrade programmes affecting career progression, the introduction of a minimum net pay policy, the formation of disciplinary panels without union representation, and disregard for seniority in promotions.
He, however, confirmed that workers had returned to their duty posts and that examinations would continue uninterrupted.
The workers accused management of intimidation, discriminatory practices and poor welfare conditions.
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The workers had earlier alleged that union members faced victimisation after a previous strike over minimum wage issues in December 2024.
Besides, they complained of the excessive workload on amid declining manpower, noting that WAEC officials covered all the 774 local government areas during examinations.
The union further raised concerns over recruitment practices, disciplinary procedures and career progression within the council.
WAEC, however, maintained that the ongoing 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination had not been disrupted by the industrial action.
WAEC through its spokesperson explained that the examination activities remained seamless despite the protest and defended the adjustment of the examination timetable, attributing it to the reduction of subjects from 76 to 38.
