The controversy surrounding the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results has intensified following allegations of technical glitches and other irregularities by a West African Examinations Council official.
The Head of Examinations at the WAEC office covering Anambra State, Olanrewaju Fadehan, raised the concerns in a video that has gone viral, particularly questioning the conduct and outcome of the Computer-Based Testing version of the examination.
Fadehan alleged that problems emerged around the release of the results, which he said had initially been scheduled for between August 3 and 5.
According to him, last-minute adjustments were made before the results were eventually released, raising concerns about the reliability of some candidates’ scores.
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 candidates who took the CBT examination were particularly affected, with Mathematics, English and Igbo among the subjects he identified.
He also questioned the reported performance of some candidates in Igbo, especially in the South-East, where the language is widely spoken.
Fadehan further claimed that schools that invested heavily in preparing for WAEC’s CBT transition may have suffered significant financial losses.
He said, “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.”
The official also alleged that some candidates were not given suitable calculators during the examination, which he claimed could have affected their performance in Mathematics and other subjects requiring calculations.
Fadehan said he had previously raised concerns about what he described as irregularities during the examination and petitioned the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies, as well as the Minister of Education.
He alleged that instead of his complaints being addressed, he was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and later placed on interdiction.
Calling for government intervention, Fadehan urged President Bola Tinubu to investigate the circumstances surrounding the poor performance allegedly recorded by some candidates, particularly those who sat the CBT examination.
“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.
Fadehan also made allegations of financial impropriety involving aspects of WAEC’s operations, including the provision of calculators, students’ identification cards and charges paid by candidates and other service users.
He called for an independent investigation into the allegations, stressing that public confidence in the examination system must be protected.
However, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, declined to comment when contacted on Thursday.
“No comment for now,” she said.
The latest allegations come amid mounting concerns over the 2026 WASSCE results. School administrators and education stakeholders had previously raised questions about some candidates’ grades, with claims of discrepancies between their WAEC results, school performance and outcomes in other standardised examinations.
The development has increased calls for WAEC to provide clarification on the processes used to conduct, mark and release the 2026 results.
