The West African Examinations Council has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat for the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School candidates, over alleged examination malpractice.
But the figure is down from the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
The Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut disclosed this while announcing the release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday.
Dangut said the council held back the results of those affected because of a number of infractions, including the escalating use of mobile phones in examination halls despite the ban in place 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 found to have assisted candidates in malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the relevant state ministries of education.
Performance decomposition
A total of 1,959,668 candidates registered for the examination across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea in 24,207 schools, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination.
Of the candidates who sat the examination:
1,200,514 candidates (61.54 percent) secured credits and above in at least five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
A total of 1,687,378 candidates representing 86.50 per cent obtained credits and above in at least five subjects with or without the English Language and Mathematics.
The percentage of candidates who gained credits in five subjects including English and Mathematics fell by 1.42 percentage points when compared with the 2025 examination.
Of the 1.2 million candidates who obtained credits in English and Mathematics:
558,883 (28.65 per cent) were males.
The female population was 641,631 (32.89 per cent).
A total of 997,267 females (51.12 per cent) and 953,459 males (48.88 per cent) took the examination.
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WAEC said the results of 1,834,695 candidates representing 94.05 per cent had been fully processed and released, while results of 116,031 candidates representing 5.95 per cent were still being processed.
The council also revealed that 1,213 special needs candidates took part in the examination. They were:
– 137 visually impaired candidates;
491 candidates with hearing impairment.
55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates;
41 candidates with physical disabilities.
The 2026 examination was the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates having been introduced by WAEC.
Dangut said the council rolled out several innovations, including the Digital Examiner Mark System to improve the speed of processing results, serialisation of question papers to curb malpractice and a new portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly for checking their results.
The exam took place between 24 April and 19 June 2026 with 102,708 examiners marking in 88 marking venues.
Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and last engagement as WAEC Nigeria National Office head, said candidates sponsored by states owing the council would not have their results released until the outstanding payments were cleared.