The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has distanced itself from a widely circulated list naming 151 secondary schools whose candidates’ results for the May/June 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were allegedly withheld.
The council had earlier announced on Monday, August 4, that results of 192,089 candidates, representing 9.75 per cent of the total, were being withheld over alleged involvement in various forms of examination malpractice.
However, a letter dated August 4, 2025, and titled “Urgent notice to the following secondary schools regarding withheld results,” surfaced online, naming specific institutions and bearing the signature of Dr. Florence Ajayi, said to be Director of Examination Malpractice and Irregularities at WAEC Nigeria.
The letter claimed that the results of students from the listed schools were withheld due to malpractice and instructed principals of the mentioned institutions to report to WAEC’s Lagos Zonal Office within 10 working days.
“All school principals are to appear before the WAEC Investigative Panel on or before August 16th, 2025, with supporting documentation and the affected candidates’ exam scripts (where applicable),” the letter read.
Prominent schools mentioned in the list included Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu; Atlantic Hall, Epe; Top Faith International School, Uyo; Corona Secondary School, Agbara; Christ the King College, Onitsha; St. Louis Secondary School, Ondo; Charles Dale Memorial International School, Port Harcourt; Stella Maris College, Abuja; Divine Mercy Secondary School, Asaba; Federal Government Girls’ College, Calabar; Holy Rosary College, Enugu; and St. Theresa’s Catholic College, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
Reacting on Tuesday, August 5, through its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, @waecnigeria, WAEC urged the public to disregard the list, stressing that it was fake and did not originate from the council.
“Kindly ignore any message listing schools whose results were supposedly cancelled. Meanwhile, WAEC will never ask any centre to bring scripts of candidates to the office. Where would they get them from?
“Do not accept any message that is not on our handles and accredited media,” the statement read.
Monday’s official result announcement by the Head of WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, revealed that 38.32 per cent of the 1,969,313 candidates who took the exam obtained credits and above in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics, a sharp drop from the 72.12 per cent pass rate recorded in 2024.
Dangut attributed the significant decline in performance to the council’s newly enforced anti-malpractice measures.
