By Tolulope Oke

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates over alleged examination malpractice.

The affected candidates represent 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who eventually sat for the examination, according to the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut.

Dangut announced the release of the results on Wednesday in Lagos, saying the withheld results were linked to various examination infractions, including the use of mobile phones in examination halls despite the existing ban and 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,” Dangut said.

He added that some supervisors and invigilators allegedly found assisting candidates in examination malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the relevant state ministries of education.

A total of 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 participated.

WAEC said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The council also disclosed that 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent, secured credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.

However, the number of candidates who obtained credits in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics dropped by 1.42 percentage points compared with the 2025 examination.

WAEC said 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, were still being processed.

The 2026 examination was the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates, following the introduction of the format by WAEC.

Dangut said the council introduced measures including the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialisation of question papers and a new e-PIN portal as part of efforts to improve result processing and curb examination malpractice.

The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners involved in marking across 88 marking venues.

WAEC also stated that candidates sponsored by states indebted to the council would not have their results released until outstanding payments were cleared.