No leakage in 2026 WASSCE despite hitches – WAEC
July 3, 2026 3:00 am
L-R: Secretary-General, National Association of Nigerian Students, Oladimeji Uthman and Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council, Amos Dangut when the NANS delegation visited the WAEC office, Yaba, Lagos, on Thursday. Photo: Wale Akinselure
The Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council, Amos Dangut, on Thursday, asserted that there was no leakage of question papers in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination despite hitches that trailed the conduct of the examination in parts of the country.
In the recently concluded examination, candidates sitting Mathematics and Agricultural Science papers in several states were forced to sit their examinations late into the evening due to delays in the delivery of question papers and answer booklets.
WAEC subsequently attributed the delayed conduct of the papers to a combination of logistical and operational challenges that followed a fatal road accident on the Gombe-Yola highway that claimed the lives of three of its officials.
Dangut spoke during a visit of the delegation of the national leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, led by its Secretary General, Oladimeji Uthman, to the council’s headquarters, Yaba, Lagos, on Thursday.
Speaking, Dangut said, despite security, logistics and other operational challenges experienced during the examination, the integrity of the exercise was not compromised.
He alluded to innovations introduced by WAEC, including enhanced cyber monitoring, which significantly reduced examination malpractice and prevented question papers from leaking online.
Dangut said, “This year, I want to sound it clear and loud that the rate of examination malpractice diminished greatly. The extent and nature of our examination papers flying up and down on the internet were greatly diminished.
“As far as our cyber monitoring team was there and the comments and testimonies we received from stakeholders outside WAEC, there was no leakage in this examination,” he said.
“Whatever glitch that may have been observed in a few states, we have a system that can take care of every glitch. It will never go undetected and uncorrected. There will be no effect whatsoever on the performance of the candidates because we have ways of tackling each issue as it arises,” he said.
Dangut attributed some of the logistical challenges experienced during the examination to the late conclusion of candidates’ registration, which he said followed adjustments to the national curriculum.
According to him, registration closed in April after the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Education, leaving little time for printing and other preparatory activities.
“Registration was concluded in April. From April to when examinations started in May, how can we do magic? The printing was affected due to timeliness, not because WAEC was not prepared,” he said.
He added that to prevent a recurrence, registration for the 2027 school candidates’ examination would commence in September and close in December 2026.
Dangut reiterated that the council remained committed to expanding Computer-Based WASSCE, describing it as the long-term solution to examination malpractice and question paper leakage.
“This CB-WASSCE is the only way that will solve all these issues. It ensures that question papers are released at the right time because there is no need to transport question papers to examination centres,” he said.
He explained that question papers were most vulnerable after being handed over to supervisors for distribution to distant examination centres, noting that computer-based testing eliminated that risk.
Dangut also revealed that WAEC now operates a cyber monitoring centre capable of detecting examination malpractice in real time.
“We now have a cyber monitoring centre that can tell where examination malpractice is taking place, and we talk to them immediately, directly, bringing them to order,” he said.
He described attempts by some individuals to discredit the council’s handling of the examination as unfortunate, saying critics were “playing politics with realities.”
“It is disheartening to see some people trying to play politics with realities with what happened. We are all witnesses to what happened and how WAEC rose to meet the challenges in conducting the examination,” Dangut said.
He disclosed that the 2026 WASSCE results would be released on August 3, urging stakeholders indebted to the council to settle outstanding examination fees within 10 days to avoid delays in processing affected candidates’ results.
“We plead with the stakeholders to take not more than 10 days from today to settle their indebtedness because if we don’t have that money, we can’t conclude the processing of the results. Results will be released on August 3,” he said.
Dangut, however, acknowledged that the council was still grieving the loss of some officials who died while on examination duty, describing the incident as traumatic for the organisation and its workforce.
Earlier, the NANS Secretary General, Oladimeji, lauded the WAEC for its ability to carry on with the conduct of the examination after the incident of the loss of its officials in an accident.
Oladimeji said the NANS was impressed by the WAEC leadership in areas including ensuring the release of results 45 days after the conclusion of the examination, commitment to the conduct of Computer-Based WASSCE, technology-driven innovations, staff welfare, training, and cost-cutting measures in the council.
The NANS also said it was noteworthy that Dangut was set to assume office as Registrar, WAEC.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, also said the Federal Government has eliminated the leakage of examination questions in the WASSCE and the National Examinations Council examinations, alluding to reforms in the education sector.
Alausa said the government had also significantly reduced examination malpractice through the adoption of computer-based testing and a hybrid examination system.
According to him, the reforms were introduced to restore the credibility and integrity of public examinations in the country.
Alausa recalled how examination question leakages were a recurring problem, saying he frequently received alerts about compromised WAEC papers before the examinations were conducted.
Alausa attributed the progress to aggressive interventions by the Federal Government aimed at safeguarding the sanctity of public examinations.
Olawale Franklin Akinselure is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with 12 years of experience covering education, politics, health, environment, judiciary, metro, and community beats. He specializes in producing insightful, wide-ranging reports that inform and engage readers. His reporting reflects practical newsroom experience, editorial insight, and a dedication to accurate, reliable journalism.
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