The Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr. Amos Dangut, has addressed allegations of inconsistency and glitches in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). He stated that there is a misconception and misrepresentation of the truth regarding the examination. According to Dr. Dangut, 2025 was a year of significant innovation for WAEC, particularly with the introduction of the Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE).
Dr. Dangut noted that the introduction of new innovations often leads to glitches, but WAEC has seen a corresponding drop in examination malpractice. In 2024, there was a drop in examination malpractice, and in 2025, the rate was 9.7 percent. This year, the rate dropped to 8.59 percent, a decline of 1.1 percent. He emphasized that the WAEC examination did not leak this year, which affected cyber rogue websites and companies that engage in fraudulent activities.
Despite the introduction of CB-WASSCE, some candidates had to sit for the examination late into the night due to logistics challenges. Dr. Dangut attributed these challenges to the reluctance of stakeholders to adapt to change and the delay in registration by schools. He stated that if stakeholders had listened and adapted to change, these issues could have been avoided. The Federal Ministry of Education had to intervene to ensure that schools registered on time.
The Federal Government had directed all examination bodies to conduct examinations in computer-based mode. However, WAEC had to adjust its plans due to a late directive from the Ministry. As a result, only schools that were ready and had the necessary facilities opted for CB-WASSCE. Dr. Dangut clarified that technology glitches do not occur in CB-WASSCE, as the test environment is secure.
Out of over 25,000 schools that enrolled for the examination, only about 200 schools opted for CB-WASSCE. Dr. Dangut acknowledged that this number is insignificant, but the plan is to have virtually all schools, particularly in urban and semi-urban centers, conduct the exam using CB-WASSCE in the future.
Dr. Dangut confirmed that the logistic challenges, including protests, did not affect the results of the students this year. He emphasized that WAEC has records that indicate the impact of innovation, reluctance to change, and a drop in malpractice.
Some schools observed that students who performed well in other international exams had lower grades in this year's WAEC. Dr. Dangut addressed this issue, but the details of his response were not provided. The WAEC HNO emphasized that the examination did not leak and that the drop in malpractice rate is a positive aspect of the innovations introduced by WAEC.
Key points
- The WAEC examination did not leak this year, and the malpractice rate dropped to 8.59 percent.
- The introduction of CB-WASSCE led to some logistics challenges, but the test environment is secure.
- WAEC plans to have virtually all schools conduct the exam using CB-WASSCE in the future.
