The Historica Nigeria Editorial Review
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is once again under the spotlight not for record-breaking performance, but for what many Nigerians have described as a crisis of confidence following the release of the 2025 WASSCE results.
Earlier this week, WAEC announced that it was reviewing the results of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School Candidates, citing “technical issues” discovered during an internal audit. This has led to temporary restriction of access to the result-checking portal, throwing many students, parents, and schools into confusion.
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In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Moyosola Adesina, the examination body assured the public that the anomalies are being addressed, and candidates are advised to recheck their results after a 24-hour window. The technical glitch, WAEC noted, stemmed from an innovation it deployed to combat examination malpractice, that is the serialisation of question papers in subjects like Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics.
While this intention may be laudable, it raises serious questions about the preparedness and technical capacity of WAEC to implement such changes without affecting the integrity of the outcome. This is particularly troubling because it comes at a time when public trust in Nigeria’s major examination bodies is steadily eroding.
This year’s results already triggered significant concern even before the glitch was publicly acknowledged. Report says that only 38 per cent of candidates earned credit passes in five subjects including English and Mathematics, the minimum requirement for entry into Nigerian tertiary institutions. This represents the worst performance in over a decade, harking back to 2014 when the pass rate stood at a dismal 29.27 per cent.
From 2020 to 2024, WAEC results showed some improvement, 65 per cent in 2020, 81 per cent in 2021, 76 per cent in 2022, and 72 per cent last year. The sharp drop in 2025 not only demands scrutiny but now risks being undermined further by the uncertainty caused by these technical hitches.
It is important to note that WAEC is not alone in this. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) faced similar backlash earlier this year after it admitted that technical failures distorted some candidates’ UTME scores. These recurring glitches raise a bigger issue on whether our examination bodies are keeping pace with the digital tools they are adopting, or if they are compromising students’ futures in the name of innovation.
The matter at hand is not just about numbers or software bugs. It touches on the credibility of Nigeria’s education assessment systems and the long-term impact on students whose academic progression depends heavily on these examinations.
WAEC has apologized and promised transparency and urgency in resolving the situation, but apologies must now be followed by action. Going forward, robust technical systems must be in place before implementing any reforms. The future of over 1.5 million candidates should never be toyed with due to preventable glitches.
This incident should serve as a wake-up call not just for WAEC, but for all stakeholders in Nigeria’s educational ecosystem. If our systems cannot deliver credible assessments, then the promise of education as a ladder to opportunity becomes a false one.
