The controversy surrounding the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results has intensified following allegations of technical glitches and other irregularities by an official of the West African Examinations Council.
The Head of Examinations at the WAEC office covering Anambra State, Olanrewaju Fadehan, made the allegations in a video that has gone viral, claiming that candidates who took the computer-based version of the examination were among those significantly affected.
Fadehan said the alleged problems became apparent around the time the results were released. According to him, the results were initially expected between August 3 and 5, 2026, noting that WAEC had a tradition of releasing examination results on Mondays.
He said, “Obviously, there was a problem because the press was eagerly waiting on Monday, the scheduled date. There was a need to quickly do some last-minute adjustments. Something was wrong.”
The WAEC official alleged that the purported last-minute changes had consequences for candidates who participated in the computer-based examination, particularly those who sat for Mathematics, English and Igbo.
He further raised concerns over reports of poor performance by some candidates in Igbo, despite the language being widely spoken across the South-East.
According to Fadehan, schools that made substantial investments in preparation for the CBT format were also adversely affected. He alleged that some institutions spent more than N60m to establish computer-based testing facilities ahead of WAEC’s transition to the new system.
“The call for a review this year is particularly disturbing, as it is alarming. Schools that subscribed to the CBT innovation of WAEC were badly hit. Some of them spent upwards of N60m and above to set up their CBT facilities,” he alleged.
Fadehan also alleged that certain candidates were not supplied with the appropriate calculators during the examination, claiming that the issue contributed to weak performances in Mathematics and other subjects requiring calculations.
The official said he had previously brought the alleged irregularities to the attention of the relevant authorities during the examination period. He said he later submitted petitions to the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies, as well as the Minister of Education.
Fadehan alleged that his complaints were not addressed and that he instead faced disciplinary action before eventually being placed on interdiction.
“I call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to investigate the cause of failure of candidates, particularly those who chose the computer-based WAEC,” he said.
He also levelled allegations of financial impropriety against the management of the examination body, citing issues surrounding the supply of calculators, students’ identification cards and various charges imposed on candidates and other individuals seeking WAEC-related services.
The official called on the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders to investigate the allegations, stressing that maintaining the credibility of the examination system was crucial to the future of Nigerian students.
When contacted on Thursday for WAEC’s response to the allegations, the examination body’s Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, declined to comment.
“No comment for now,” she said.
The PUNCH had reported on August 18 that WAEC was coming under increasing scrutiny over the integrity of the 2026 WASSCE results for school candidates, amid claims by school administrators and education advocates of grading inconsistencies and technical problems associated with the expanded rollout of Computer-Based Testing.
The concerns emerged after some school administrators and education advocates complained that students who had previously demonstrated strong academic performance received grades they considered unexpectedly low, when compared with their school records and results in other standardised examinations.
