Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The West African Examinations Council has appointed Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, a Nigerian education administrator, as its new Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, elevating him from his role as Head of the Nigeria National Office to the pinnacle of the sub-regional examination body. The appointment, announced in a statement on Thursday, October 2, 2026, by the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC Headquarters in Accra, Demianus G. Ojijeogu, takes effect for a five-year tenure running from October 2026 to September 2031.
Dangut, who assumed office as the 14th Registrar to Council on October 1, 2026, succeeds Alhaji Pateh Bah of The Gambia. His appointment was ratified by the Council, WAEC's international governing board, at its 74th Annual Meeting held in Accra, Ghana, in March 2026. He had served as Head of the Nigeria National Office from October 2023 until September 2026, a period marked by significant technological transformation at the council's largest national office.
Born on October 2, 1967, Dangut's academic credentials reflect a dual foundation in agricultural science and educational administration. He holds a Bachelor of Agriculture in Animal Production, which he obtained in 1991, a Master of Science in Animal Science in 1994, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science in 2017. He later earned a Master of Education in Administration and Planning in 2020, deepening his grounding in the administrative and policy dimensions of education. His career in education began in 1994 at St. Louis College, Jos, where he served as a WAEC examiner before joining the Council in 1998 as a full-time staff member.
Over more than two decades within WAEC, Dangut has held a succession of positions across the council's examination and administrative structures. He served as Assistant Registrar in the Test Development Division in Ogba, Lagos, and as Head of Examinations Security and Deputy Branch Controller in both Uyo and Bauchi. He was later Branch Controller in Yola, Controller of the Post-Examinations Department, Zonal Coordinator in Ikeja, and Deputy Registrar before rising to Head of the National Office. This breadth of experience, spanning test development, examination security, branch administration, post-examination activities and national office management, gave him an intimate knowledge of the council's operations at virtually every level.
It was as Head of the Nigeria National Office that Dangut built his reputation as a reformer. He championed the rollout of the Computer-Based WASSCE, a transition that moved Nigeria's school certificate examination away from paper-based administration toward digital delivery. He oversaw the serialisation of question papers, a measure designed to strengthen examination security and deter malpractice. He introduced the Digital Electronic Marking System, which streamlined the marking of scripts and accelerated the release of results. Beyond those headline initiatives, he supervised the development of the Digital Certificate Portal, which replaced physical certificate collection with online verification and retrieval, and the WAEC E-Study Platform, which provided students with digital learning resources. He also oversaw the Digital Records Archive and systems for examination logistics, timetable management and the monitoring of examiners' attendance.
Those reforms were not merely administrative conveniences. They addressed the fundamental integrity challenges that have long threatened the credibility of examinations in Nigeria and the wider sub-region, from leakage of question papers to delays in results and the logistical difficulties of managing millions of candidates. Dangut's use of information and communications technology to strengthen examination security, delivery and post-examination processes was recognised within the Council and earned him commendation from the Nigeria Examinations Committee for his handling of examination matters between 2000 and 2006.
His contributions extend beyond WAEC. He has served on the governing boards of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the Grange Educational Foundation. He represented WAEC at the Joint Consultative Committee on Education and the National Council on Education, two of Nigeria's most important education policy platforms. He is currently the Regional Representative of the West African Sub-region on the Executive Board of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa, a role that places him at the centre of continental conversations on assessment standards. He is a Fellow of the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria and a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management. A scholar with publications in national and international journals, he has presented papers at several conferences and professional forums. During his National Youth Service Corps year, he received an Award for Meritorious Service from the Ondo State Government. He is married with children and enjoys swimming, tennis and farming.
Dangut takes over WAEC at a pivotal moment. The council is navigating the global shift toward digital assessment, managing the growing demand for examination integrity across five member countries, and adapting to a rapidly evolving education landscape shaped by technology, population growth and public expectations. His appointment has been welcomed across Nigeria's education sector, with Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State among those who extended congratulations even before the ratification was formally announced. His tenure as Head of the Nigeria National Office demonstrated that he is willing to disrupt entrenched practices in pursuit of efficiency and integrity, a quality that will be tested at the regional level where consensus-building among five nations is required.
WAEC said his career has been marked by integrity, transparency, diligence and commitment to service. The Council's description of his trajectory, from a classroom examiner at St. Louis College to the 14th Registrar, reads as a tribute to a man who rose through the ranks by mastering the technical and administrative complexities of examination management. For Nigerian students, teachers and parents, his elevation is a source of national pride. For the council's member countries, it is an opportunity to deepen the regional cooperation that has defined WAEC since its founding. For Dangut himself, it is the culmination of three decades of service to an institution he first encountered as a young examiner in Jos. The challenges ahead are considerable, but the groundwork he laid in Nigeria suggests he understands what is required to meet them.
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