Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has faulted the Federal Government's reported approval of a uniform ₦50,000 fee for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and National Examinations Council examinations from 2027, cautioning that the policy would shut millions of children out of education.

In a statement issued on Sunday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President also faulted the recent fee hikes at Federal Unity Colleges, branding both measures economically insensitive and at odds with the government's constitutional duty to keep education within reach of every Nigerian child.

Shaibu quoted Atiku as describing the timing as unconscionable, given that Nigerian households are already contending with record inflation, soaring food prices, rising transportation costs, crippling electricity tariffs, stagnant incomes, and widespread unemployment, yet the Tinubu administration was making education even costlier.

The ADC chieftain maintained that education remains the strongest tool for breaking the cycle of poverty, insisting that a government genuinely committed to its people's future removes financial barriers rather than erecting them.

He flagged Nigeria's out of school children crisis as central to his objection, citing estimates placing the figure between 10.5 million and 15 million, and argued that the new charges would only swell those numbers instead of reducing them.

Atiku further contended that the proposed fee would filter indigent but qualified students out of tertiary education long before they reach university gates, noting that over two million candidates seek admission annually while public universities can only absorb between 500,000 and 700,000 due to infrastructure limits.

He dismissed the government's reliance on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as insufficient, pointing out that a university loan offers no relief to a child already priced out of secondary education or unable to afford the qualifying examination.

Atiku urged President Bola Tinubu to reverse the Unity School fee increase, shelve the proposed WAEC and NECO charge, and convene a stakeholders' dialogue on sustainable education financing, while also calling for greater investment in public schools, more teachers, and expanded tertiary capacity.

The statement lands amid mounting public debate over the affordability of education following recent fee increases and rising living costs, with stakeholders demanding clarity from relevant authorities on the planned WAEC and NECO charges.