The West African Examinations Council has come under fire after temporarily denying access to the 2025 WASSCE results portal due to technical glitches. Following post-release quality checks, WAEC admitted that bugs were found in its backend systems, prompting it to suspend the result checker portal.
Candidates were advised to re-check their results after 24 to 48 hours. The Council linked the issue to a new anti-malpractice strategy involving paper serialisation for key subjects, including English and Mathematics.
The situation triggered widespread protests from students and condemnation from parents and education stakeholders. The Nigeria Union of Teachers and the National Association of Nigerian Students called the glitch unacceptable and urged greater accountability. NANS accused WAEC of incompetence and demanded leadership changes.
On social media, Nigerians expressed skepticism over WAEC’s 24-hour timeline to fix the errors, with many demanding transparency and possible script reviews.
The backlash was further fuelled by recent data showing only 38.32% of candidates passed with credits in five subjects, including English and Maths — the worst performance in a decade.
Parents and teachers criticised the Council’s push for full Computer-Based Testing by 2026, citing infrastructure and digital literacy challenges. WAEC has since apologised and promised updated results within 24 hours.
The Federal Ministry of Education confirmed the glitch had been resolved and reaffirmed support for phased CBT integration to uphold exam integrity.
