Forged WAEC Letter Resurfaces As 167,486 Results Face Probe
Barely hours after the West African Examinations Council announced the release of the 2026 Computer Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for school candidates, a document bearing the council’s letterhead, stamps and the signature of its Nigeria National Office head began spreading across WhatsApp groups and social media timelines, naming 50 secondary schools whose candidates had supposedly been sanctioned for examination malpractice. The council says it never wrote it.
WAEC issued the denial on Wednesday through its official X handle, publishing an image of the circulating document defaced with a large red “FAKE” stamp. “FAKE NEWS ALERT: Please disregard the message below. It did not originate from WAEC,” the council wrote.
The forged letter, dated August 2, 2026, was addressed to heads of public and private secondary schools nationwide. It claimed that candidates from 50 schools had their results withheld over alleged malpractice and instructed the affected institutions to submit detailed reports within 14 days or face further sanctions. The list named schools across several states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, and carried the name of Dr Amos Dangut, Head of the WAEC Nigeria National Office, beneath what appeared to be authentic council insignia.
The episode closely mirrors a similar hoax in August 2025. That fabricated document, dated August 4, 2025, listed more than 150 schools, bore the reference number WAEC/EXM/2025/MAL/256, and was falsely signed in the name of a purported “Director, Examination Malpractice and Irregularities.” It directed schools to appear before an invented investigative panel at the WAEC Lagos Zonal Office with candidates’ examination scripts. WAEC spokesperson Moyosola Adesina publicly dismissed it at the time, noting that the council never requests scripts from centres and that only its verified handles and accredited media carry official communication.
Education platforms tracking the 2026 circular have also pointed out that an earlier version of the same hoax claimed 120 schools would have results cancelled, and was likewise debunked. The recurrence suggests a seasonal pattern in which forged documents surface within days of, or immediately after, WAEC’s annual results announcement, when anxiety among candidates, parents and school proprietors is at its peak.
What is not in dispute is the scale of the genuine withholding. Announcing the 2026 results in Lagos on Wednesday, Dangut disclosed that the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the examination, were being withheld over alleged malpractice. He said the figure was lower than the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.
The trend line over three cycles is instructive. In 2024, WAEC withheld 11.92 per cent of results. In 2025, the council reported 192,089 withheld results, put at 9.75 per cent of 1,969,313 candidates drawn from 23,554 schools, a drop of 2.17 percentage points. The 2026 figure of 8.59 per cent continues that decline, marking the third consecutive year of reduction, though the absolute number of affected candidates remains substantial at over 167,000.
WAEC said 1,959,668 candidates registered for the 2026 examination, with 1,950,726 eventually sitting it across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea between April 24 and June 19. Of these, 1,834,695 results, or 94.05 per cent, were fully processed and released, while 116,031, representing 5.95 per cent, were still being processed. A total of 1,200,514 candidates, 61.54 per cent, obtained at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics, while 1,687,378 candidates, or 86.50 per cent, secured five credits with or without the two compulsory subjects. The council said female candidates outperformed males in the key performance category, and that the overall pass rate declined by 1.42 percentage points compared with 2025.
That marginal decline stands against a far steeper collapse the previous year, when only 38.32 per cent of candidates obtained five credits including English and Mathematics, down from 72.12 per cent in 2024, a drop WAEC attributed partly to the serialisation of objective papers in English, Mathematics, Biology and Economics.
Dangut was explicit that withholding is not cancellation. “The council is investigating the allegations. Those exonerated will have their results released, while those found culpable will face the consequences,” he said.
Under WAEC’s own published guidance, a withheld result remains under investigation, with the Nigeria Examinations Committee taking the final decision after reviewing each case. Candidates are advised to consult their school principals, check the council’s Notice of Examination Malpractice portal, submit a defence where applicable, and monitor updates from roughly four weeks after results are released. The council has also cautioned candidates against paying agents or online intermediaries who claim they can release or upgrade withheld results.
On the causes, Dangut pointed to the persistent use of mobile phones in examination halls despite an existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools. He said several supervisors and other suspects were apprehended during the exercise, and that those found aiding malpractice would face disciplinary action through the relevant state ministries of education. He also flagged the activities of rogue website operators, alongside logistical strain and inflation, as pressures on the conduct of the examination.
Nigerian law treats both examination malpractice and document forgery as criminal matters. The Examination Malpractices Act, Cap E15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, originally enacted as Act 33 of 1999, creates offences ranging from question paper leakage to forgery of result slips and certificates, with penalties that include fines and terms of imprisonment, some without the option of a fine. Separately, the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015 provides for computer related forgery, an offence carrying imprisonment and financial penalties on conviction.
Whether any enforcement action follows the 2026 circular remains unclear. WAEC’s Wednesday statement did not indicate that a formal complaint had been lodged with security agencies, and no arrest has been publicly announced in connection with the forged document.
The 2026 edition was the second full Computer Based WASSCE for school candidates. WAEC deployed the Digital Examiner Mark System to accelerate processing, serialised and randomised question papers, and introduced a portal allowing candidates to generate result checking PINs directly. Marking involved 102,708 examiners across 88 centres. Digital certificates are to be available within 48 hours of results release, with hard copies within 90 days.
Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and final appearance as Head of the Nigeria National Office, also restated that candidates sponsored by state governments with outstanding fees would not have their results released until debts are cleared.
For now, the council’s position is narrow and firm. The 50 school list is not its work, and candidates, parents and schools should rely only on WAEC’s verified channels and accredited media for information on the 2026 results.