The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed delays experienced during the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to late registration by schools, logistical challenges and insecurity.
The Head of the Nigerian Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, stated this on Thursday during the monthly dialogue organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), themed “One-on-One with WAEC HNO: Addressing Concerns over WASSCE Results, other Matters.”
EWAN is a network of journalists committed to advancing education reportage across Nigeria’s print, broadcast and digital media.
The dialogue came amid concerns over the conduct of the 2026 WASSCE, including poor performance recorded, delays that left some candidates at examination centres until late in the night and questions surrounding the introduction of computer-based test (CBT) mode.
DevReporting had reported that candidates sitting the 2026 WASSCE across some Southwestern states in Nigeria were held at their examination centres until late at night on 3 June.
The incident occurred amid heightened concerns over the safety of candidates and staff at examination centres, following the abduction of 46 students and seven teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on 15 May. A similar mass abduction of students was also reported in Borno State on the same day.
Late registration affected examination planning
Mr Dangut said delays in schools submitting candidates’ entries affected the council’s preparations, including the printing of examination papers and other logistics.
According to him, schools were expected to complete the registration earlier, but some did not submit their entries until late into the registration period.
He explained that registration which should have been concluded in December 2025 was not completed by some schools until April 2026, leaving WAEC with limited time to make adequate preparations for the examination.
“Delay in registration delayed the preparation of examination, the printing of examination papers and other logistics,” he said.
The WAEC HNO also linked some of the difficulties to changes in the mode of assessment.
He said the Council had initially prepared for computer-based test mode following a Federal Government directive, before receiving a formal instruction in late April to proceed with the pen and paper mode for some schools.
Mr Dangut said the changes came at a period when preparations for unscheduled examination papers were already underway, putting further pressure on the council’s logistics.
Insecurity, industrial action disrupted centres
The WAEC HNO also identified insecurity and disruptions involving teachers and examination supervisors as factors that affected the smooth conduct of the examination.
Some candidates in Oyo, Osun and Kwara states who sat the examinations until late in the evening had raised concerns about their safety and the logistics surrounding the conduct of the examination.
According to Mr Dangut, industrial action by teachers also affected the availability of supervisors at some examination centres, contributing to delays.
He noted that some WASSCE invigilators downed tools during the examination in protest over the continued detention of victims of the Oyo school abduction.
“Unless the stakeholders listen very well and adapt change, we will continue to have issues which are surmountable,” Mr Dangut said.
WAEC reports decline in malpractice
Despite the challenges, Mr Dangut said WAEC’s adoption of technology had contributed to a decline in examination malpractice.
He said the malpractice rate fell from 9.7 per cent in 2025 to 8.59 per cent in 2026, describing the reduction as evidence that the council’s innovations were yielding results.
He also stated that the 2026 WASSCE examination did not leak, attributing the development partly to changes in the assessment system.