‘Something Was Wrong,’ WAEC Official Blows Whistle as 2026 WASSCE Results Crisis Worsens

The crisis rocking the 2026 West African Examinations Council results has taken a dramatic turn after a senior WAEC official went public with explosive allegations of glitches, irregularities, and last-minute adjustments.

The Head of Examinations at the WAEC office covering Anambra, Olanrewaju Fadehan, made the claims in a now-viral video, alleging that candidates who sat the Computer-Based Test, CBT, version were the worst hit.

According to Fadehan, the problems became obvious around the scheduled release date. WAEC had traditionally announced results on Mondays, with this year’s release expected between August 3 and 5, 2026.

“Obviously, there was a problem because the press was eagerly waiting on Monday, the scheduled date. There was a need to quickly do some last-minute adjustments. Something was wrong,” he said.

Fadehan alleged that the rushed corrections affected core subjects including Mathematics, English and Igbo. He expressed particular concern over reports that many candidates from the South-East recorded poor grades in Igbo, a language widely spoken in the region.

The official also raised the alarm over the fate of schools that invested heavily to key into WAEC’s CBT innovation. “Some of them spent upwards of N60m and above to set up their CBT facilities,” he alleged, adding that those schools were “badly hit.”

Beyond technical issues, Fadehan claimed logistical failures also contributed to the poor performance. He alleged that some candidates were not provided with appropriate calculators during the examination, a development he said hurt results in mathematics and other calculation-based subjects.

The allegations did not stop at technical glitches. Fadehan said he had earlier petitioned the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies, and the Minister of Education over irregularities observed during the exams.

Rather than get a response, he alleged, he was targeted. “I was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and subsequently placed on interdiction,” he claimed, suggesting an attempt to silence internal dissent.

The embattled official is now calling for presidential intervention. “I call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to investigate the cause of failure of candidates, particularly those who chose the computer-based WAEC,” he said.

Fadehan also made broader allegations of financial impropriety within WAEC, citing issues around the supply of calculators, students’ identification cards, and various charges imposed on candidates and other service seekers.

“I urge the federal government and other stakeholders to investigate the allegations,” he stressed, warning that the integrity of the examination system is critical to the future of Nigerian students.

The whistleblowing comes amid growing public scrutiny. It was reported on August 18 that WAEC is facing mounting criticism over alleged grading anomalies and technical glitches linked to the expanded CBT rollout.

School administrators and education advocates have complained that some high-performing students received lower grades than expected, based on their academic records and performance in other standardised assessments.

When contacted for a reaction on Thursday, WAEC Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, declined to comment. “No comment for now,” she said.

As pressure mounts, thousands of candidates, parents and schools who bet on CBT are now waiting to see if the federal government will order an independent probe into what Fadehan calls a crisis that “something was wrong” about.

Source: Platforms Africa