The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is facing criticism over the temporary shutdown of its result checker portal (@waecdirect.org), citing “technical issues” less than 72hours after announcing the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for school candidates.
The Head of Nigeria’s Office (HNO) of WAEC, Amos Dangut, on Monday, 4 August, announced the release of the 2025 WASSCE results for school candidates. He disclosed that out of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat the examination, only 754,545 representing 38.32 per cent secured credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
In a post on its X (formerly twitter) handle on Wednesday, the examination body wrote, “WAEC hereby informs the general public that the result checker portal @waecdirect.org is temporarily shutdown due to technical issues. However, the Council is working assiduously to ensure that candidates are able to access their results in the next 24 hours. Please bear with us.”
The announcement, however, has been met with criticism from concerned Nigerians, who decried the state of education and raised concerns about the potential implications of the poor performance recorded in the examination, particularly in English Language.
The unprecedented decline in performance, particularly in English Language, has triggered public outrage, with many accusing the examination body of systemic failure and negligence in marking.
Netizens react
The announcement of temporary shutdown of the result checker portal sparked an outpouring of frustration and disbelief on social media, with many Nigerians questioning the integrity of the examination process and the fairness of the results released.
While some lamented the emotional and financial toll the results have taken, others called for transparency and urgent redress.
Recall that chaos erupted across several examination centres in Nigeria on 28 May when candidates sitting the English Language paper in the WASSCE were subjected to long, unexpected delays that dragged into the late-night hours, forcing candidates to use torchlights to illuminate dark classrooms.
On X (formerly Twitter), users expressed deep concern over the high rate of failure, particularly in English Language. They accused WAEC of jeopardising the future of students who, despite enduring difficult exam conditions, ended up with disappointing outcomes. Some even threatened protests and demanded that the council present marked scripts for public scrutiny.
Below are some of the reactions:
Obinna @obyno87 posted: “I challenge you to present the English and Mathematics scripts for scrutiny. The result are unreal.Redeem your image now or face widespread protest against the credibility of the result you just released.”
Emerie @ZRozse14000 posted: “Please WAEC do something, I’ve spent a lot of money because of this exam and I didn’t write NECO. How will I enter school when I scored f9 in English please Please and I passed my cutoff mark abeg make Una no do this thing to me.”
@prettycachy posted: “Aren’t you ashamed that students have to go through stress to write exams at 11pm.”
Osuenene Miracle @osuenene65994: “It is not fair at all,after the stress and the danger of lives of those students you guys still failed them it not fair let’s call a spade a spade ,let handle justice with fairness”
Mark Imohi @sikimark It’s concerning that the English exam, which was delayed at centers nationwide, is now resulting in widespread failures. If @JAMBHQ could make amends, we hope you’ll take steps to rectify the situation. It was a national disgrace.
@_samad1 posted: “They all see the time student are writing their exams at 8 and stuff we are given 1hour or 30 minutes to answer a question that surpose to be 2 and half hour. And they know we got essay and stories to write no light everyone was in haste to submit and go home. Please rethink oo.”
King Jeporphs @e_okwori: “The students who were robbed and given abysmal grades in English should tag presidency, ministry of edu etc to have an external body revise the whole exam process. This result, even though bad players like this have made Nigerians settle for just about anything, shouldn’t stand.”
Intrusivethoughts @JayTrezy: “Just like Jamb @waecnigeria is using the future of Nigerians to Gamble, Yes I said so, if majority of the D’s E’s and F9’s awarded on english are rechecked @waecnigeria will pay dearly, papers having all A’s and B’s with English F9 is a deliberate attempt to generate more revenue.”