The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates over alleged examination malpractice.
The withheld results represent 8.59 per cent of the total candidates who wrote the examination, an improvement from the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 WASSCE.
Announcing the release of the 2026 results in Lagos, the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, said the affected candidates were linked to various forms of malpractice, including the use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating involving some schools.
Dangut disclosed that supervisors and invigilators found aiding malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the appropriate state ministries of education.
According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
The council said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. Another 1,687,378 candidates, or 86.50 per cent, earned credits in five subjects irrespective of English and Mathematics.
WAEC also revealed that the results of 1,834,695 candidates had been fully processed and released, while 116,031 results remain under processing. In addition, 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination.
