WAEC Results Trigger Online Backlash Over CBT Examination

By LOVETH-AZODO CHIJIOKE, Lagos

The release of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CBT-WASSCE) results has sparked widespread debate on social media, with some Nigerians questioning the credibility of the computer-based examination following complaints by candidates and parents over their performance.

The reactions followed Wednesday’s release of the examination results by the Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, whose tenure has recently come to an end.

While announcing the results at the Council’s national headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, Dangut also reflected on his tenure, acknowledging that many schools had found it difficult to fully adapt to the computer-based examination system introduced for the school candidates’ examination.

Shortly after the results were released, an X user alleged that the examination suffered what he described as “a disastrous glitch,” particularly affecting candidates who sat the computer-based examination.

The user called on WAEC to withdraw the results and review the process, warning that legal action could be instituted if the alleged issues were not addressed.

The post quickly gained traction, attracting mixed reactions from other users.

An X user, identified as Obyno C (@coolobyno), suggested that the reported glitches in computer-based examinations were becoming a recurring pattern, while another user, Obi Onyeigwe (@ObiPodo), called for stricter laws to improve the integrity of computer-based examinations, arguing that similar complaints had also surfaced during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Although WAEC has not responded to the specific allegations circulating on social media, Dangut disclosed during the briefing that the Council withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat the examination, over alleged examination malpractice.

He noted that the figure represents an improvement from the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 examination.

The outgoing Head of National Office also disclosed that candidates sponsored by state governments indebted to the Council would not have their results released until the outstanding payments were settled.

“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,” he said.

WAEC announced that 1,950,726 candidates sat the 2026 examination, while 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.

As conversations around the first large-scale computer-based WASSCE continue, stakeholders are expected to watch closely for any further response from the examination body regarding the concerns raised online, even as the Council maintains that its official result processing and malpractice investigation procedures remain in place.