WAEC disowns list of 50 schools with withheld WASSCE results

The West African Examinations Council has declared a letter circulating on social media as fraudulent, which claims that the results of candidates from 50 secondary schools in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for school candidates were withheld due to alleged examination malpractice.

WAEC provided this clarification in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, urging the public to ignore the document.

"FAKE NEWS ALERT: Please disregard the message below. It did not originate from WAEC," the council stated.

The counterfeit document, dated August 2, 2026, was allegedly addressed to the heads of public and private secondary schools throughout Nigeria.

It asserted that the results of candidates from 50 schools had been withheld due to alleged examination malpractice and instructed the affected schools to submit comprehensive reports within 14 days or face additional penalties.

The fraudulent letter listed schools from various states, including Lagos and Abuja.

It was also falsely signed in the name of the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, and featured what seemed to be the council’s official letterhead and stamps.

This clarification was issued shortly after WAEC announced the release of the 2026 Computer-Based WASSCE results for school candidates.

The council revealed that it had withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, which accounts for 8.59 percent of the 1,950,726 candidates who participated in the examination, due to alleged examination malpractice.

According to WAEC, the withheld results were due to various infractions, including the use of mobile phones in examination halls despite an existing prohibition and organized cheating in certain schools.

The council also indicated that some supervisors and invigilators found to be facilitating examination malpractice had been apprehended and would face disciplinary measures through the appropriate state ministries of education.