Daniel Otera
More than 192,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) have had their results withheld by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) over suspected involvement in examination malpractice.
The Council confirmed that 192,089 results representing 9.75% of all candidates were being investigated for offences ranging from impersonation and collusion to the use of mobile phones and external assistance during exams.
Although this figure marks an improvement from 2024, when 11.92% of results were withheld, education experts and stakeholders argue that the persistent malpractice underscores deeper structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s education system.
Speaking in Lagos during the official announcement of the results, Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, condemned the efforts by “unscrupulous individuals” seeking to compromise the examination process.
“These unscrupulous elements have become a thorn in the Council’s flesh,” Dr Dangut said. “Some even go as far as using WAEC’s name to distribute fake exam materials and misinformation. We’ve apprehended some of them, and appropriate sanctions will be applied.”
To combat widespread malpractice, WAEC deployed serialised question papers in high-risk subjects including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, and Economics. The move helped to significantly reduce collusion and answer copying in centres previously flagged for mass cheating.
WAEC also made history this year with one of the fastest turnaround periods for results, thanks to a new real-time digital scoring platform introduced for examiners.
This year’s exams, conducted between 24 April and 20 June, were marked digitally in real time, allowing for instant score uploads and faster processing. Marking was concluded by 21 July, a significant leap in operational efficiency compared to previous years.
WAEC noted that 1,517,517 candidates about 77.06% of the total 1,969,313 had their results fully processed and released, while 22.94% are still pending due to errors such as incorrect data submission and missing scripts.
The Council also warned that candidates sponsored by state governments owing examination fees will not be able to access their results until their respective states settle outstanding debts.
Despite WAEC’s technological upgrades and preventive strategies, analysts say cheating remains symptomatic of broader educational decay in Nigeria.
According to data from UNESCO, Nigeria has one of the world’s largest out-of-school populations, with over 20 million children aged 6–18 currently not in formal education.
In addition, some states record pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratios as high as 1:67, far exceeding global best practices. This shortage of qualified teachers, particularly in public secondary schools in the North, limits meaningful learning and leaves many students poorly prepared for national exams.
“Malpractice doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” said a school administrator in Kaduna, who asked not to be named. “It is linked to underfunding, overcrowding, poor infrastructure, and the desperation to pass at all costs.”
Dr Grace Adebayo, an education reform advocate, echoed the concern, adding that punitive measures alone will not solve the crisis.
“We’re not dealing with just individual misconduct. This is a system-level failure,” she said. “Students cheat because the environment doesn’t equip them with what they need to succeed honestly. Until we fix that, malpractice will continue to thrive.”
The news of withheld results sparked a wave of reactions online. On X (formerly Twitter), users expressed disappointment and called for deeper reform rather than reactive punishment.
“Every year, WAEC withholds results and the numbers keep going up. The problem is not the students, it’s the broken education system,” wrote @NaijaEducator.
“Let’s talk about the reasons people cheat. Are they being taught well? Do they even have teachers? Fix the root, not just the result,” added @AishaReform.
Critics also raised questions about the quality of teacher training, access to past learning materials, and the outdated curriculum that fails to prepare students for 21st-century challenges.
Despite the challenges, WAEC maintains that it will continue enforcing integrity in the exam system, urging schools, parents, and governments to play their part.
“We’re not just punishing offenders,” Dr Dangut noted. “We’re trying to build a resilient culture of academic integrity. Every credible exam system must evolve to protect its credibility.”
WAEC also confirmed ongoing collaboration with law enforcement to track and prosecute social media vendors peddling fake question papers and “expo” materials. The Council has vowed to blacklist centres found guilty of aiding malpractice.