WAEC Withholds 167,486 WASSCE Results Over Malpractice

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, accounting for 8.59% of those who sat for the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School candidates, due to alleged examination malpractice. This figure shows a decline from the 9.7% recorded in 2025.

Dr Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, disclosed this during the results release in Lagos. The infractions include the increasing use of mobile phones in examination halls and organized cheating in some schools.

Some supervisors and invigilators assisting candidates in malpractice have been arrested and will face disciplinary action. A total of 1,959,668 candidates registered for the examination across Nigeria and three other countries, with 1,950,726 eventually sitting for it.

The results of 1,834,695 candidates were fully processed, while 116,031 were still being processed. The examination took place between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners involved in marking.