KEY POINTS

• An education foundation has given WAEC 14 days to address alleged irregularities in the 2026 computer-based WASSCE results.
• The group wants WAEC to preserve examination records and allow affected candidates to independently verify and challenge their results.
• The foundation has threatened court action if WAEC fails to engage meaningfully, with possible demands for independent audits and result corrections.

The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, could face legal action over alleged irregularities in the results of the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE).

The Initiative for School Excellence and Education Foundation has given WAEC 14 days to preserve examination records, provide relevant information and establish a transparent process through which candidates can independently challenge their results.

The organisation said it had received complaints from a substantial number of candidates who questioned the accuracy, reliability and transparency of the results released by the examination body.

The foundation, through its lawyers at Zuriel Law Practice, sent a formal letter dated August 14, 2026, to the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office in Yaba, Lagos.

The organisation stressed that it was not claiming that all results released by WAEC were inaccurate.

Instead, it said the volume and nature of complaints were serious enough to warrant an independent examination of the systems used to conduct the computer-based examination and generate candidates’ results.

The concerns reportedly cover several stages of the examination process, including the computer-based testing environment, recording and processing of candidates’ answers, scoring, grading and the generation of final results.

A major concern raised by the foundation is the absence of an effective mechanism through which candidates can independently verify how their results were generated.

The organisation argued that candidates who believe their results do not accurately reflect their performance should be able to access relevant electronic records and have the results reviewed.

It is therefore calling for WAEC to provide a transparent procedure through which affected candidates can identify possible discrepancies and request human assessment of their results.

The organisation has requested access to a wide range of electronic examination records.

These include the questions presented to individual candidates, recorded responses, answers changed during examination sessions, session and timing information, scores attributed to individual questions, raw scores and grading calculations.

It also wants records showing whether any manual intervention, reprocessing or correction occurred during the production of the results.

The foundation said these records would help determine whether the examination platform accurately captured and processed candidates’ performances.

The group has also demanded that WAEC preserve all electronic and documentary records associated with the administration and processing of the 2026 CB-WASSCE.

The requested records include candidate response databases, examination-session records, system audit trails, server and application logs, scoring databases, result-generation records, correction records, system-error reports, backups and technical reports.

The foundation specifically wants WAEC to preserve information relating to interruptions, disconnections, system errors and lost responses that may have affected candidates during their examinations.

It warned that the records should not be deleted, overwritten, altered or destroyed while the complaints remain unresolved or while any legal proceedings are pending.

The foundation also referred to previous public statements by WAEC concerning technical and operational difficulties encountered during an earlier examination cycle.

It noted that WAEC had previously indicated that corrective measures and additional safeguards would be implemented for the 2026 examination.

The organisation therefore wants WAEC to demonstrate that the safeguards were properly implemented and worked effectively during this year’s computer-based examinations.

It believes that examining the relevant technical records would help establish whether any system failures affected candidates’ results.

The foundation is proposing a formal review mechanism for candidates who have reasonable grounds to question their results.

Under the proposed system, affected candidates would be able to access their electronic examination records, identify possible discrepancies and request a human review by an examiner or another qualified person who was not responsible for the original automated scoring.

Where errors are identified or reasonably suspected, the organisation wants the affected results to be reprocessed and, where necessary, re-scored.

It also wants original electronic records to be preserved throughout the review process.

The organisation has proposed that candidates could be offered another examination opportunity where a significant technical or administrative defect is established and their actual performance can no longer be reliably reconstructed.

The proposed measure would apply only where the available records are insufficient to determine a candidate’s genuine performance.

Students’ identities kept confidential

The foundation said it deliberately withheld the identities of candidates who submitted complaints.

According to the organisation, some students and their parents were concerned that openly challenging WAEC could expose them to negative educational consequences.

The foundation argued that students should not have to put themselves at risk simply to raise legitimate concerns about the integrity of a national examination.

It therefore intends to pursue the matter while protecting the identities of the affected candidates.

Alex Onyia, Chief Executive Officer of Educare, said there appeared to be a serious problem with the recently released results which he claimed WAEC had not adequately acknowledged or addressed.

He stressed that the controversy was not simply about examination statistics but about the educational futures of thousands of young Nigerians.

According to Onyia, inaccurate results could affect students’ university admissions, educational opportunities and future prospects.

He called on WAEC to acknowledge and investigate any technical problems that may have occurred and correct the results of candidates who were wrongly affected.

The foundation has given WAEC 14 days from the date it received the letter to respond to its demands.

It wants the examination body to confirm that all relevant examination records have been preserved and disclose the framework governing the 2026 CB-WASSCE.

WAEC is also being asked to explain how candidates can obtain their individual electronic examination records and establish a clear procedure for challenging disputed results.

The foundation further wants information on the safeguards used to verify electronically recorded answers and automatically generated scores, as well as details of any significant technical incidents during the examination.

The organisation warned that failure by WAEC to meaningfully engage within the 14-day period could lead to court action.

If legal proceedings are initiated, the foundation said it could seek court orders compelling WAEC to preserve and disclose examination records and establish a candidate review and verification mechanism.

It could also seek orders requiring human reviews, independent reprocessing of results where discrepancies are established and corrective measures for systemic defects that may have affected the reliability of the examination.

The foundation said its objective is to protect affected students and preserve confidence in Nigeria’s examination system.

The controversy comes at a sensitive period for thousands of young Nigerians whose next educational steps may depend on their WASSCE results.

For the affected candidates, the central issue is whether their electronically recorded performances were accurately captured, scored and converted into the results released by WAEC.

The proposed verification process, if accepted, could provide a way of resolving individual complaints while also determining whether any broader technical or administrative problems affected the 2026 examination.