By our Reporter
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for 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 1,950,726 candidates who participated in the examination, a slight improvement from the 9.70 per cent recorded in the 2025 examination cycle.
The Head of WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, disclosed this on Wednesday while announcing the release of the 2026 WASSCE results in Lagos.
According to Dangut, the results were withheld over various forms of examination malpractice, particularly the increasing use of mobile phones in examination halls despite existing restrictions and cases of 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.
He added that some supervisors and invigilators caught aiding candidates during the examination had been arrested and would be sanctioned through the appropriate state Ministries of Education.
A total of 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 candidates eventually sat for the papers.
The council said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
It also disclosed that 1,687,378 candidates (86.50 per cent) secured credits in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.
However, the percentage of candidates who obtained five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, dropped by 1.42 percentage points compared with the 2025 examination.
Of the candidates who earned five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883(28.65 per cent) were male, while 641,631(32.89 per cent) were female.
Female candidates accounted for 997,267 (51.12 per cent) of the total candidates, while 953,459 (48.88 per cent) were male.
WAEC further disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates (94.05 per cent) had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 per cent) were still being processed.
The council also recorded the participation of 1,213 candidates with special needs, comprising 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 hearing-impaired candidates,55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.
Dangut noted that the 2026 examination was the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates and featured several technological innovations aimed at enhancing examination integrity and result processing.
According to him, the council introduced the Digital Examiner Mark System to speed up marking, serialised question papers to reduce examination malpractice, and launched a new portal that enables candidates to generate e-PINs directly to check their results.
The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners participating in the marking exercise across 88 marking centres nationwide.
Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and final appearance as Head of the WAEC National Office, also warned that candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to the council would not have access to their results until the outstanding payments were settled.
