Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has welcomed the Federal Government’s suspension of the proposed hike in registration fees for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examinations Council Senior School Certificate Examination, while condemning what he called a recurring pattern of “poor policy formulation” by the administration.

The government had announced a plan to raise examination fees by as much as N50,000 from 2027, citing rising logistics, security, printing and technology costs. The proposal triggered swift backlash from parents, students, labour unions, civil society groups and opposition figures, who argued that the move would further shut out children from low-income families from secondary education certification.

Following the outcry, the Ministry of Education stepped back, saying the fee review had been put on hold to allow for wider consultations with examination bodies, state governments, school owners, parents’ associations and organised labour. It also pledged that no increase would take effect until those consultations were concluded.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the suspension as a victory for Nigerians who resisted the proposal, but insisted the episode exposed a deeper governance problem.

He questioned why the administration repeatedly waits for public anger before reversing course, arguing that sound policymaking requires rigorous consultation before decisions are announced.

Atiku warned that the planned fee hike would have imposed fresh hardship on families already battling inflation, soaring transport costs, higher electricity tariffs and shrinking incomes. Education, he said, must remain a pathway out of poverty rather than “a luxury reserved for the privileged.”

He urged the Federal Government to use the pause to design a sustainable funding framework for WAEC and NECO that protects the integrity of public examinations without transferring costs to struggling households.

Atiku also called for evidence-based policymaking anchored in dialogue, transparency and stakeholder engagement, saying a government that only responds after an uproar has effectively stopped listening to its citizens.

Looking ahead to the 2027 general election, he framed the controversy as emblematic of a broader choice before Nigerians: between what he termed an administration governed by “trial and error” and an alternative grounded in experience and deliberate planning.