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Applicants who took part in the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) recruitment aptitude test have raised concerns over alleged technical difficulties that they said disrupted their attempts to complete the online examination.

Several applicants took to X to complain of difficulties accessing the test portal, repeated logouts, delays in loading questions and problems moving from one question to another during the exercise.

One applicant, posting under the name Matchmaking – Nightlife, described the experience as frustrating, alleging that the test was designed to last 40 minutes but that candidates were losing valuable time because the system repeatedly logged them out.

The applicant wrote that about 15 minutes had elapsed without a question being successfully answered, citing auto-logout, delayed logins and errors after clicking the button to proceed to the next question.

Another user, Jamokski, who said the video circulating online was recorded before the main examination room, also complained about the examination platform.

According to the applicant, moving from one question to another could take several minutes, while some questions reportedly moved automatically to the previous or next item without any input from the candidate.

Other applicants reported similar experiences.

One user, Kayode K. Lawal, said the aptitude test had glitches “everywhere”, listing problems with the login process, examination portal, timing and loading of subsequent questions.

He questioned the suitability of the system for student examinations, given the difficulties applicants were experiencing during the recruitment exercise.

Another applicant, who identified himself as Leahcim, said he was scheduled to take the test between 1pm and 1:40pm but could not gain access at the scheduled time.

“I was scheduled for 1pm-1:40pm, after so much trial I was allowed to access the website around 3pm. And I was able to finally login by 5:30pm,” the applicant wrote.

He said that after eventually gaining access, he struggled to complete only four questions because he was repeatedly logged out of the system.

An applicant identified as Kuti Of Mokwa also posted that after the test was rescheduled, he had managed to answer only two questions in 28 minutes.

The complaints have triggered criticism of WAEC on social media, with some applicants describing the experience as frustrating and questioning the reliability of the organisation’s technology.

However, the complaints should be viewed against the background of a genuine recruitment process.

WAEC maintains an official Job Application Management Portal for vacancies at its Nigeria National Office. The portal instructs applicants to review advertised vacancies, submit applications and monitor their application status through their dashboards.

By August, applicants who had progressed in the recruitment exercise began seeing messages on their dashboards informing them that they had been “advanced to the next stage of the application process” and asking them to confirm their availability for an aptitude test.

The portal update required applicants at that stage to provide or confirm details including their active email addresses, telephone numbers and states of residence for subsequent communication about the recruitment process.

WAEC itself also has an Aptitude Tests Department that provides computer-based and remote online testing services, including recruitment tests for organisations. Its published materials describe the remote testing system as an initiative intended to provide secure, flexible and convenient assessment while improving efficiency and reducing logistical challenges.

The latest complaints raise questions about whether the technology deployed for the recruitment exercise delivered the reliability expected from an organisation that administers high-stakes examinations.

As of the time of filing this report, WAEC had not publicly responded to the specific complaints reviewed by The Nigeria Education News or explained the reported login, auto-logout, timing and question-navigation problems.

The Nigeria Education News could not independently establish how many applicants were affected or whether the reported difficulties occurred across all test sessions.

WAEC applicants have therefore been advised to rely on the Council’s official recruitment portal for further instructions and updates rather than unverified information circulating on social media.