2026 WASSCE: WAEC Withholds 167,486 WASSCE Results Over Alleged Malpractice

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates over alleged examination malpractice.

The Head of the National Office of WAEC, Dr. Amos Dangut, announced this on Wednesday while releasing the 2026 WASSCE results at a press briefing in Lagos.

According to him, the withheld results represent 8.59 per cent of candidates who sat for the Computer-Based Test (CBT), a decline from the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 examination.

Dangut attributed the cases to various forms of examination malpractice, particularly the use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating in some schools.

"The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues," he said.

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He explained that all reported cases are currently under investigation and would be reviewed by the appropriate committee of the council before final decisions are taken.

"All the cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of council for consideration and final decisions," Dangut stated.

He added that the committee's decisions would be communicated to the affected candidates through their respective schools.

"Candidates affected by these decisions can now call for redress of their malpractice cases if they so wish, through council's complaint website," he added.

Providing statistics on the examination, the WAEC boss said 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for it. The examination was also conducted in selected schools in the Benin Republic, Côte d'Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea where the Nigerian curriculum is in use.

He disclosed that 953,459 candidates who sat for the examination were male, representing 48.88 per cent, while 997,267 were female, accounting for 51.12 per cent.

Dangut further revealed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat for the examination, have had their results fully processed and released.

However, he said the results of 116,031 candidates are still being processed due to issues requiring further verification.

"Efforts are ongoing to speedily complete the process and release the affected candidates' results in a couple of days," he assured.

On candidates with special needs, Dangut said 1,213 registered for the examination, including visually impaired, hearing-impaired, physically challenged and mentally challenged candidates.

"All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of these candidates have been processed and are also now being released alongside those of other candidates," he said.

Speaking on innovations introduced during the examination, Dangut said the council successfully conducted both Computer-Based Tests (CBT) and Paper and Pencil Examinations (PPE), describing the exercise as a milestone for school examinations in Nigeria.

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He also announced that WAEC had introduced a Digital Examiner Marking System and discontinued the use of Smart Identity Cards.

"Candidates can conveniently generate e-PINs online through our digital certificate platform, eliminating dependence on Smart Identity Cards for checking examination results nationwide," he said.

Dangut noted that examination malpractice, logistics challenges, inflation-driven operational costs, late registration and the activities of rogue websites remained major concerns for the council.

He warned that supervisors and invigilators found culpable of aiding examination malpractice would face sanctions in line with the council's regulations.

Despite the challenges, he maintained that the 2026 WASSCE was successfully conducted across the country.

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Candidates whose results have been released can access them within 12 hours, while digital certificates will be available within 48 hours. Printed certificates, according to the council, will be issued after 90 days.

Dangut also announced that registration for the 2026 WASSCE for Private Candidates (Second Series) is ongoing, while preparations for the 2027 WASSCE for School Candidates will commence shortly.