The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has called for an independent investigation into the conduct and outcome of the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), following concerns over the results released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
The demand was contained in a September 3, 2026 document signed by NAPPS National President, Samira Jibir, and National Secretary, Dr Kayode Adeyemi, after the association met with the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, to discuss concerns surrounding this year’s examination.
One of the major issues discussed was the remarking of examination papers requested by private schools following the poor performance recorded in the 2026 WASSCE.
According to the document, WAEC agreed to conduct the remarking exercise at no cost to the affected schools. However, of the 28 schools whose papers had been remarked at the time of the meeting, 25 recorded no change in their results, while only marginal changes were observed in the remaining three schools.
The outcome has heightened calls for a closer inspection of the examination process, with NAPPS formally requesting the establishment of an investigative committee.
However, the association’s request is yet to receive a final decision, with the Minister indicating that the government would consider it after the ongoing remarking and review processes are concluded.
NAPPS also presented comparative data on WASSCE performance in 2025 and 2026 for review by the ministry.
The document said the figures appeared to show an improvement in overall performance at the credit-pass level in 2026, a pattern NAPPS considered difficult to reconcile with the widespread concerns over the results, particularly among candidates who took the computer-based examination.
It highlighted declines of more than 30 per cent in Igbo Language and 19 per cent in Physics as areas requiring further examination.
The association and the ministry agreed that WAEC should hold a broader engagement with private school stakeholders after the remarking and review exercises. At the proposed meeting, WAEC is expected to provide a detailed statistical breakdown of candidate performance and address outstanding questions surrounding the results.
The discussions also touched on access to candidates’ results and WAEC’s digital systems. The meeting called for improvements to the examination body’s technology infrastructure to make result management more efficient, secure and credible.
Private schools were, meanwhile, advised against withholding students’ WASSCE results as a means of recovering outstanding school fees. NAPPS was encouraged to develop better arrangements for fee collection and debt recovery without obstructing candidates’ access to their examination results.
The meeting further placed renewed attention on the National Examinations Council (NECO) as an alternative to WAEC.
The document noted that the Federal Government has limited direct control over WAEC because it operates as a regional examination body, while NECO falls directly under Nigeria’s education system.
NAPPS therefore advocated wider adoption of NECO by public and private schools, while urging the council to improve stakeholder engagement, communication and public confidence in its examinations.
A separate committee has also been constituted to work on harmonising examination timetables across the various examination bodies. Its responsibilities include ensuring that results are released early enough to support tertiary institution admissions and examining the logistical and financial pressures associated with examination registration.
The meeting also reviewed the 2025/2026 JAMB admission cycle. NAPPS noted that the JAMB CAPS admission window, which closed on August 31, 2026, was extended to give candidates additional time to submit NECO results where deficiencies in their WAEC performance needed to be addressed.
The association clarified that the extension applied to the 2025/2026 admission exercise and should not be confused with the 2026/2027 admission cycle.
On examination malpractice, the meeting acknowledged the need for sustained efforts to dismantle what the document described as an ecosystem involving students, parents, schools and compromised examination officials.
WAEC, in its response, maintained that the poor performance in the 2026 WASSCE was largely linked to intensified anti-malpractice measures, including the serialisation of examination questions.
The examination body also indicated that it should provide clearer statistical evidence showing how the measures affected candidate performance and contributed to the results recorded in the 2026 examination.
