The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says technical glitches did not affect the conduct or results of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Amos Dangut, head of the Nigerian office of WAEC, said no
question paper leaked before any of the examination papers was held,
attributing the decline in examination malpractice partly to measures
introduced by the council.
Dangut spoke on Thursday during the monthly dialogue
organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), themed,
‘One-on-One with WAEC HNO: Addressing Concerns over WASSCE Results, Other
Matters’.
His comments came amid concerns from some school owners and
other stakeholders who questioned the results released in August, arguing that
the performance of some candidates did not reflect their academic abilities.
Dangut said some of the criticism was linked to resistance
to WAEC’s recent changes, including computer-based testing, randomisation and
serialisation of questions.
“There is a lot of misconception, misrepresentation of the
truth about the scenario,” he said.
“This very year, 2026, I can confidently tell the whole
world that the WAEC examination did not leak.
“From 2024, there has been a drop in examination
malpractice. Similarly, in 2025, we had a rate of 9.7 percent in examination
malpractice, whereas in this year, 2026, the rate dropped to 8.59 — a decline
of 1.1 percent.”
Dangut said the reduction in malpractice had affected
individuals and platforms that previously profited from examination fraud.
“The cyber rogue websites, cyber cafes that engage in
fraudulent activities or malpractice, they did not thrive. So they were
angered,” he said.
“They are part of the aggrieved people that are also
fuelling this unnecessary controversy.”
The WAEC Nigeria boss maintained that the introduction of
the new assessment methods had also affected the performance of candidates who
previously relied on examination malpractice.
“You will also agree that if there is no malpractice, there
is no leakage, definitely performance will be affected,” he said.
“Because many people that have been used to thriving well,
doing well in an environment that allows growth of malpractice will not have
that opportunity again.”
He attributed delays experienced during the examination to
late registration by schools and other logistical challenges.
According to him, the delay in registration affected WAEC’s
preparations, including the printing of examination materials and other
logistics.
Dangut said schools that were expected to complete
registration by December 2025 did not conclude the process until April 2026.
“You will all recall that until the Federal Minister of
Education stepped in, schools were reluctant to come and register,” he said.
“Registration of what should have been concluded late
December 2025 were not concluded until April 2026.
“It was when the examination actually started that WAEC had
to now go to the press to start printing. And that affected the logistics, the
conduct of examinations.”
Dangut also cited insecurity as another factor that affected
the smooth conduct of the examination.
He said nationwide protests in May over the kidnapping of
Oyo schoolchildren and teachers also partly affected the examination.
“Don’t also forget that there was a particular day when
teachers strike protesting the kidnapping of students and teachers,” Dangut
said.
“On that very day, the supervisors we had down tools. They
said they were not going to hold the exam. And before we could salvage
situation, it was late for some of the schools.”
He said unless stakeholders adapt to the changes introduced
by WAEC, “we will continue to have issues which are surmountable”.
In August, WAEC released the results of the 2026 WASSCE for
school candidates.
Announcing the results in Lagos, Dangut said a total of
1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 percent, obtained credits and above in
at least five subjects, including english and mathematics, out of the 1,950,726
candidates who sat the examination.
The number of candidates who obtained credits in five
subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, dropped by 2.26
percentage points when compared with the 1,239,884 candidates, representing
62.96 percent, who achieved the same feat in the 2025 WASSCE.
Dangut said the results of 1,834,695 candidates,
representing 94.05 percent, had been processed and released, while those of
116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 percent, were still being processed.
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