Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut has assumed office as Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), becoming the council's 14th registrar and the sixth Nigerian to hold the position.

His five-year tenure began in October 2026 and will run until September 2031. He succeeds Pateh Bah of The Gambia, taking charge of the regional examining body that was established in 1952, is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and counts Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia among its member countries — a council whose examinations mark the culmination of secondary education for candidates across the sub-region.

The appointment was announced in a statement on Friday by Damianus Ojijeogu, Head of Public Affairs at WAEC Headquarters in Accra, Ghana. WAEC's International Governing Board ratified the decision at the council's 74th annual meeting, held in Accra in March 2026.

From examiner to registrar: Dangut's rise through WAEC

Dangut began his professional career in education in 1994 at St Louis College, Jos, where he served as an examiner. He joined WAEC in 1998 and went on to hold a series of positions at the council's headquarters and branch offices, including assistant registrar, senior assistant registrar, deputy registrar and deputy registrar/controller.

On October 2, 2023, he became Head of WAEC's Nigeria National Office, the post he held until his appointment as registrar. In that role, he oversaw initiatives aimed at improving examination delivery, security, integrity and efficiency.

The council credited him with championing the rollout of computer-based WASSCE — the West African Senior School Certificate Examination taken by school-leaving candidates across the sub-region — alongside the serialisation of question papers and the introduction of a digital electronic marking system. He also oversaw the Digital Certificate Portal, the WAEC E-Study Platform, the Digital Records Archive and digital systems for examination logistics, timetable management and the monitoring of examiners' attendance.

Those digitalisation efforts were launched under his leadership of the Nigeria National Office; as registrar and chief executive, they now fall within a remit that spans WAEC's operations across all of its member countries.

Sixth Nigerian to lead the council

Dangut becomes the sixth Nigerian to steer WAEC since Prof. Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike became the first indigenous Nigerian to hold the registrar's office in 1971. Ike served from 1971 to 1979 and was followed by Dr S. A. Akeju, who served as acting registrar from 1979 to 1980.

The other Nigerians to have led the council include Dr S. A. Esezobor, who served from 1987 to 1995; Alhaja Mulikat A. Bello, who held the post from 2007 to 2012; and Dr Iyi Uwadiae, who led from 2012 to 2019. Dangut is thus the sixth Nigerian among the 14 people who have served as WAEC registrar since the council's establishment, a leadership history in which the office has passed between Nigerian and non-Nigerian holders.

The new registrar holds a Bachelor of Agriculture in Animal Production, a Master of Science in Animal Science, a Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science and a Master of Education in Administration and Planning. He has also served on the governing boards of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board — bodies at the centre of Nigeria's education research and tertiary admissions systems.

Dangut has represented WAEC at education policy forums, including the Joint Consultative Committee on Education and the National Council on Education. He also served as the West African sub-region's representative on the Executive Board of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa, experience that spans national policy circles and the continent's assessment community.