The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, over alleged examination malpractice.

The figure marks a decline from the 9.7 per cent recorded in the 2025 examination.

Announcing the release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday, the Head of the WAEC National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, attributed the withheld results to various forms of examination malpractice, including the use of mobile phones in examination halls 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 disclosed that some supervisors and invigilators caught aiding malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the relevant state ministries of education.

According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the exercise.

The council said 1,200,514 candidates (61.54 per cent) obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, while 1,687,378 candidates (86.50 per cent) earned credits in at least five subjects, with or without English and Mathematics.

WAEC noted that the pass rate for candidates who obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics, declined by 1.42 percentage points compared to the 2025 examination.

Of the candidates who secured the benchmark five credits, including English and Mathematics, 558,883 (28.65 per cent) were male, while 641,631 (32.89 per cent) were female.

Overall, 997,267 females (51.12 per cent) and 953,459 males (48.88 per cent) participated in the examination.

The council said 1,834,695 candidates (94.05 per cent) had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 per cent) were still being processed.

WAEC also disclosed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination, including 137 visually impaired candidates, 491 with hearing impairment, 55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates, and 41 physically challenged candidates.

Dangut said the 2026 examination, the second edition of the computer-based WASSCE for school candidates, featured several innovations, including the Digital Examiner Mark System, serialised question papers to curb malpractice, and a new portal that enables candidates to generate e-PINs for result checking.

The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners participating in the marking exercise across 88 marking centres.

Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and final engagement as Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, added that candidates sponsored by states indebted to the council would not have their results released until the outstanding payments were settled.