THE West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates over alleged examination malpractice.
This comes even as the proportion of candidates who obtained the benchmark five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, recorded a slight decline from the previous year.
The Head of WAEC National Office, Amos Dangut, while announcing the release of the 2026 examination results during a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday attributed the withheld results to widespread examination malpractice, including the growing 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,” Dangut said.
According to him, the withheld results represent 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the examination, down from the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 WASSCE.
Dangut said 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 eventually sat for the exercise conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026.
He noted that of those who wrote the examination, 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
The council noted that the performance reflected a decline of 1.42 percentage points compared to the 2025 examination.
Meanwhile, 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects irrespective of whether they passed English Language and Mathematics.
Among candidates who secured the benchmark five credits including English and Mathematics, 641,631 were female, while 558,883 were male.
Overall, female candidates accounted for 997,267 of those who sat the examination, while 953,459 were male.
Dangut said it had successfully processed and released the results of 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat the examination.
However, the results of 116,031 candidates remain under processing.
The council also disclosed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 candidates with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
Dangut said the 2026 WASSCE was the second Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates and featured new measures aimed at strengthening examination integrity and speeding up result processing.
He noted that the innovations included the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialisation of question papers to reduce malpractice, and a new portal enabling candidates to generate electronic PINs directly for checking their results.
A total of 102,708 examiners participated in marking scripts across 88 marking venues nationwide.
Dangut also warned that candidates sponsored by state governments owing WAEC outstanding examination fees would not have their results released until the debts were settled.
The West African Senior School Certificate Examination is conducted annually by WAEC for secondary school students in English-speaking West African countries.
Established in 1952, WAEC administers examinations and awards certificates that serve as key qualifications for admission into tertiary institutions and employment across the region.
Nigeria began introducing computer-based WASSCE for school candidates in 2025 as part of broader reforms to modernise examination administration, improve efficiency and curb examination malpractice, including impersonation, question leakage and collusion.
The council has continued to tighten security measures through technology-driven innovations and stricter enforcement against candidates and examination officials involved in malpractice.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.