The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is under mounting pressure from education stakeholders.
They are asking the council to address what they describe as repeated lapses in the conduct and management of its flagship assessment, the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
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EKO HOT BLOG observed that for reform have intensified following two high-profile incidents in 2025: the disruption of the May English Language paper that left some students writing late into the night, and the council’s admission of a scoring error that compromised recently released results.
Earlier Delay in May Left Students Writing at night
In May, candidates across several Nigerian states, including Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, and Osun, were affected by delays in the English Language paper, which was rescheduled at the last minute due to a leak.
Originally set for 9:00 a.m., the paper in some centres did not begin until midday, with the final sittings extending into the night.
Reports indicated that some Lagos candidates were still writing as late as 11:45 p.m., relying on torchlight in classrooms with inadequate electricity supply.
Critics argued that WAEC’s inability to prevent the leak unfairly punished candidates, forcing them to sit a high-stakes exam in conditions that could have affected their performance.
Results Error Sparks Outrage
The latest controversy came in August when WAEC announced that only 38.32 per cent of the 1,969,313 candidates obtained credits in five subjects, including English and mathematics. Following public backlash over the apparent mass failure, the council admitted to a grading error affecting its English papers.
A revised analysis put the pass rate at 62.96 per cent, a dramatic jump of more than 24 percentage points.
WAEC management attributed the error to a problem with grading “serialised papers,” a new feature introduced this year.
Stakeholders Question WAEC’s Credibility
For many educators and parents, the two incidents point to deeper administrative weaknesses within WAEC. Ike Onyechere, founder of the Exam Ethics Marshall International (EEMI), criticised the council’s handling of high-stakes examinations in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“You cannot make such a serious examination a subject of trial and error,” Onyechere said. “Today the pass rate is 38 per cent, tomorrow it becomes 63 per cent. How are we supposed to trust the authenticity of these results?”
Onyechere called for an investigation by the education ministry, the presidency, and the National Assembly, arguing for a reshuffle of WAEC’s management.
“If it is happening only in Nigeria, then the federal ministry of education has to tell the country what exactly is going on,” he added, dismissing the “serialisation” explanation as a technical excuse that overlooked systemic lapses.
Other stakeholders echoed the concerns. Teacher Oluwaseun Omotubora linked the May delays and night-time sittings to broader issues of poor organisation and inadequate infrastructure. She argued that WAEC should have recalled and reviewed affected answer scripts before publishing results, or in some cases ordered a fresh sitting of the exam.
Parents, including Ifeoluwa Atteh and Nathaniel Adamu, urged independent investigations into whether candidates were unfairly failed or passed in either the initial or revised results.
Adamu further tied WAEC’s difficulties to low investment in education, noting that underpaid teachers and poor facilities contribute to a weakened system where malpractice can thrive.
Impact on Students
Several candidates reported that their grades in key subjects were upgraded in the revised results. Chisom Jonah, a public school candidate in Abuja, saw her English grade move from D7 to C6, enabling her to meet university admission requirements. “I am excited about the new results because I can now pursue my university admission,” she said.
For Favour Akindele, her mathematics grade improved from D7 to C4. Both welcomed the changes but the reversals have raised questions about the reliability of WAEC’s processes.
A Call for Reforms
While WAEC has pledged to learn from the incidents, stakeholders insist that trust in Nigeria’s examination system depends on urgent reforms to its management, processes, and security protocols.
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Without this, they warn, the credibility of the WASSCE, both at home and abroad, risks further erosion.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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