The controversy over the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results has intensified following allegations of technical problems and other irregularities by an official of the West African Examinations Council.
According to a report by PUNCH, the Head of Examinations at WAEC’s Anambra office, Olanrewaju Fadehan, made the claims in a video that has gained widespread attention online.
According to Fadehan, candidates who participated in the computer-based version of the examination were among those allegedly affected by the problems surrounding the release and processing of the results.
He said the results were initially expected to be released between August 3 and 5, 2026, but suggested that unforeseen issues prompted last-minute adjustments.
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.”
Fadehan alleged that the adjustments had consequences for candidates who took the CBT examination, particularly in subjects such as Mathematics, English and Igbo.
He also questioned the reported performance of some candidates from the South-East in Igbo, noting that the language is commonly spoken across the region.
The WAEC official further claimed that schools that invested substantially in infrastructure for the council’s CBT programme had suffered setbacks.
“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.
He also raised concerns over the provision of calculators to candidates during the examination.
According to him, some candidates were allegedly not given suitable calculators, a situation he claimed may have affected their performance in Mathematics and other subjects requiring calculations.
Fadehan said he had previously drawn the attention of relevant authorities to what he described as irregularities during the examination.
He said he subsequently petitioned the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies, as well as the Minister of Education.
However, he alleged that his complaints were not addressed and that he was instead subjected to disciplinary action and 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.
Fadehan also levelled allegations of financial impropriety against the management of WAEC, raising questions over the procurement and distribution of calculators, students’ identification cards, as well as fees charged to candidates and other users of the examination body’s services.
He called on the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders to investigate the allegations, stressing the need to safeguard the credibility of the examination process and protect the interests of students.
When contacted on Thursday for the council’s response to the allegations, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, declined to comment.
“No comment for now,” she said.
The latest allegations come amid wider concerns over the credibility of the 2026 WASSCE results released for school candidates.
Earlier reports indicated that school administrators and education stakeholders had raised concerns over alleged grading discrepancies and technical difficulties following the expansion of WAEC’s Computer-Based Testing system.
Some school officials and education advocates had also claimed that students who had previously demonstrated strong academic performance received grades they considered inconsistent with their records and outcomes in other standardised examinations.
The latest claims by Fadehan are expected to further fuel calls for clarification from WAEC and relevant government authorities over the conduct, processing and release of the 2026 examination results.
(PUNCH)
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