WASSCE 2026: Education group threatens to sue WAEC, gives 14-day ultimatum

An education advocacy group has threatened legal action against the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), giving the examination body 14 days to address concerns over the integrity of the 2026 computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE).

The Initiative for School Excellence and Education Foundation is demanding, among other things, that WAEC preserve examination records, give affected candidates access to their electronic records and subject the computer-based examination and result-processing systems to independent verification.

Alex Onyia, who identifies as the Chief Executive Officer of EDU Care on X, posted the letter from the group’s lawyers on Friday.

Mr Onyia was among those who raised concerns about the results shortly after their release.

“We have now taken legal action against WAEC. WAEC has 14 days to respond and take appropriate action, failing which we will proceed with litigation,” Mr Onyia wrote.

The letter, dated 14 August 2026 and signed by Chinwe Onubogu, Principal Partner of Zuriel Law Practice, was addressed to the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office in Lagos.

The development comes a day after WAEC defended the credibility of the 2026 WASSCE results following criticism on social media.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the examination body said it had observed a “recent wave of public commentary” on social media, questioning the accuracy and credibility of the recently released results.

WAEC said the results were produced through its established marking, moderation and auditing processes and advised members of the public to refrain from relying on unverified claims.

Group demands

In the letter, the foundation said it had received representations from a “substantial number” of candidates who raised concerns about the “accuracy, reliability and verifiability” of their 2026 CB-WASSCE results.

The foundation said the “scale and nature of concerns warrant objective verification before these results are treated as beyond meaningful challenge.”

It asked WAEC to preserve all electronic and documentary records relating to the administration, processing, scoring and release of the examination results.

These include candidate response databases, examination-session records, system audit trails, server and application logs, scoring databases, result-generation records and reports relating to system errors, interruptions and other technical incidents.

The group also wants affected candidates to be given access to their electronic examination records, including their recorded responses, scores and information showing how their final grades were generated.

It also requested “records of any manual intervention, correction, adjustment or reprocessing” that may have affected candidates’ results.

Independent review

The foundation also called for an independent verification exercise involving experts in educational assessment and information technology.

“Given the systemic nature of the concerns being reported, our client respectfully proposes that WAEC, in consultation with appropriate independent educational assessment and information-technology experts, establish an independent verification exercise capable of determining whether the 2026 CBE platform and result-processing system operated accurately and consistently.

“The purpose of such verification would not be to substitute external judgment for WAEC’s academic judgment, but to determine whether the technological and administrative processes upon which the results depend operated reliably,” the letter reads.

The foundation asked WAEC to provide information on the “technical framework governing the 2026 CBE and the measures taken to determine whether such incidents affected candidates’ results.”

Background

WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE results on 5 August, with its Head of National Office, Amos Dangut, announcing the results at a press briefing in Lagos.

The results sparked concerns on social media, with some users alleging glitches, particularly regarding the computer-based examination.

WAEC, however, did not specifically identify the social media claims it was responding to in its Thursday statement.

The council said every candidate’s script undergoes a multi-tiered system of marking, moderation and auditing, guided by standardised marking schemes and overseen by vetted subject experts.

It also said it maintains channels through which candidates can raise queries or grievances.

2026 WASSCE

According to WAEC, 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the 2026 examination, while 1,950,726 eventually sat for it.

The examination was conducted between 24 April and 19 June. WAEC said 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent of those who sat the examination, had their results fully processed and released.

The results of 116,031 candidates, representing 5.95 per cent, were still being processed at the time of the results announcement.

A total of 1,687,378 candidates, representing 86.50 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtained credits in at least five subjects, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.

However, 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

WAEC also withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of the candidates, over alleged examination malpractices.