The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed as fake a document circulating on social media claiming that the results of candidates from 50 secondary schools were withheld over alleged examination malpractice in the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The examination body issued the clarification on Wednesday through its official X account, warning students, parents, schools and the general public not to rely on the forged document.
“FAKE NEWS ALERT: Please disregard the message below. It did not originate from WAEC,” the council stated while sharing an image of the document stamped boldly with the word “FAKE.”
The forged letter, dated August 2, 2026, falsely claimed that candidates from 50 schools across several states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had their examination results withheld over alleged malpractice. It also instructed the affected schools to submit reports within 14 days or face additional sanctions.
To appear authentic, the fake document carried what looked like WAEC’s official letterhead and stamps and was falsely signed in the name of the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut.
The clarification comes shortly after WAEC officially released the 2026 Computer-Based WASSCE results for school candidates. During the announcement, the council confirmed that the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the examination, had been withheld over suspected examination malpractice.
According to WAEC, the withheld results are linked to various forms of examination misconduct, including the use of mobile phones inside examination halls despite existing bans and organised cheating involving some schools. The council also disclosed that several supervisors and invigilators allegedly caught aiding malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the appropriate state ministries of education.
WAEC urged members of the public to verify information through its official communication channels and avoid sharing unverified documents capable of misleading candidates, schools and parents.
