Follow Us on Google
- Council withheld results of 165,486 students for exam fraud
- Results of indebted public, private schools withheld
By Gabriel Dike
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Wednesday announced the release of the May/June 2026 Computer Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) with 61.54 percent candidates recording credits in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
WAEC Head of National Office (HNO), Dr. Amos Dangut, disclosed that 1,950,726 candidates wrote the CB-WASSCE in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
“Now with heartfelt joy and overwhelming emotions the recently concluded CB-WASSCE for school candidates, 2026 which happened to be my third and last as the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office is released today,’’ Dangut announced.
Dangut also announced that results of public and private candidates whose proprietors/proprietress are indebted to WAEC would not be released until CB-WASSCE registration fees and outstanding ones are cleared.
He revealed that 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 percent obtained credits in five subjects with English and Mathematics. According to him, 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 percent, recorded credits in five subjects with or without English and Mathematics.
The outgoing HNO said 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the CB-WASSCE nationwide and three other countries.
Dangut explained that of registered candidates for the examination, 1,950,726 sat for the examination, which was also administered to candidates in three West African where the Nigerian curriculum for Senior Secondary Schools is being used.
The WAEC boss revealed that 1,213 candidates with varying degrees of Special Needs registered for the examination, out of which 137 were visually challenged, 491 with impaired hearing; 55 were spastic cum mentally challenged and 41 were physically challenged.
“All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of these candidates have been processed and are also now being released along with those of other candidates,” he noted.
Dangut said out of 1,950,726 candidates that sat for the examination, 953,459 were males while 997,267 were females, representing 48.88% and 51.12%, respectively.
The HNO disclosed that 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05% have their results fully processed and released while 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95% have one or more of their subjects still being processed due to some issues being resolved.
He stated that efforts are being made to speedily complete the process and release the affected candidates’ results within a couple of days. Dangut added that out of candidates with five credits including English and Maths, 558,883 (28.65%) were male candidates, while 641,631) (32.89%) were female candidates.
He added: “A comparison of the percentage of candidates in this category in WASSCE for school 2025 and 2026, revealed that in 2026 CB-WASSCE, there is 1.42% decrease in performance that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 61.54%.
WAEC HNO further said the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 percent sat for the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice, stating, “this is (1.11%) lower than the 9.7% recorded in the WASSCE for school candidates, 2025.”
Dangut disclosed that the increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues that stakeholders needs to tackle.
“All the cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of the Council for consideration and final decisions. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their various schools, in due course. Candidates affected by these decisions can now call for redress of their malpractice cases if they so wish via https://waecinternational.org/complaints, ‘’ he argued.
WAEC helmsman stressed that the council will continue to sanction cases of examination malpractice, as schools, supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating this evil are not helping the educational system. He urged that all hands must therefore be on deck to sanitize the system.
“As WASSCE for School Candidates, 2026 results are being uploaded on the results website, candidates should after checking the result online, apply for their Digital certificate which will be released 48 hours thereafter. Candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can access their results on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org, within the next twelve hours. Copies of the result listing will be sent to schools shortly.
“I need not restate the fact that the results of candidates who are sponsored by states indebted to the Council will not be released now until payment is made. We appeal to the concerned to do so to enable the affected schools/candidates access their results, ‘’ the HNO warned.
Dangut said during the examination, the council experienced a delay in conducting examinations for a major paper, noting that these posed serious threat that could have deprived Nigerian candidates the privilege of sitting the papers with their counterparts in other member countries but thankfully examinations were successfully conducted.
He observed that non-adherence to registration deadline was the greatest headache the Council encountered on the road to conduct the examination, arguing, ‘’this issue continued to linger as some schools failed to upload their students’ CASS at the stipulated time and many also failed to meet registration deadlines.”
WAEC boss explained that registration for WAEC examinations is not an open-ended thing as pre-examination materials, examination materials and post-examination materials must be produced, using data supplied by candidates in good time before the conduct of any diet and failure to meet these requirements would throw the entire process into jeopardy.
Another area of concern, he noted is the activities of rogue website operators, which did not go unnoticed and that some of these faceless miscreants have turned WAEC’s examination periods into a cash cow, peddling fake papers and manipulating students through cyber deception.
He added: “These platforms exploit the anxieties of students, lure parents into quiet complicity, and systematically erode public trust in the value of academic success. These unscrupulous elements have become the thorn in the Council’s flesh and its arch nemesis.
“They have even become even more brazen in their activities, to the extent that they compose fake messages in the name of the Council to wreak havoc and cause distress for unsuspecting stakeholders. The Council is calling on all stakeholders to help in the fight against these individuals and to raise awareness about their deceptive tactics.”
According to him, the conduct of CB-WASSCE 2026, despite some hitches, was a huge success and in the council ongoing pursuit of innovation in service delivery, it successfully conducted the school exam for the second time, using the computer-based WASSCE for school candidates, which allowed candidates to choose between a computer-based format or pen and paper.
“This exploit had us as the first examining body in the nation to conduct Achievement test using the Computer-based approach for school candidates. All these would not have been successful without cooperation of the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Federal Ministry of Education and our stakeholders,” Dangut noted.
