The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed claims that examination papers leaked during the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Amos Dangut, Head of the Nigerian Office of WAEC, said the examination was conducted without any leakage, despite concerns raised by some school owners and other stakeholders over the results released in August.

Dangut spoke on Thursday at a monthly dialogue organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria, where he addressed concerns surrounding the 2026 WASSCE results.

“I can confidently tell the whole world that the WAEC examination did not leak,” Dangut said.

He attributed part of the controversy to changes introduced by WAEC, including computer-based testing, randomisation and serialisation of questions.

Dangut said examination malpractice had declined from 9.7 per cent in 2025 to 8.59 per cent in 2026.

He argued that the decline had affected candidates who previously relied on examination malpractice, while cyber fraud platforms and cybercafes involved in examination fraud had also lost business.

The WAEC official said technical glitches did not affect the conduct or results of the examination.

He attributed some delays to late registration by schools, noting that registration which was expected to be completed in December 2025 continued until April 2026.

Dangut also cited insecurity and protests over the kidnapping of Oyo schoolchildren and teachers as factors that disrupted the examination in some locations.

WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE results in August, with 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtaining credits and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The figure was lower than the 62.96 per cent recorded in 2025.

WAEC said results for 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had been processed and released, while those of 116,031 candidates were still being processed.