IN SHORT: The West African Examinations Council has asked the public to disregard a list of Nigerian schools supposedly disqualified for exam malpractice in the 2025 senior school certificate exams.
A message circulating on Facebook claims that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has published a list of Nigerian schools involved in exam malpractice during the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The council is West Africa’s leading examining board, responsible for conducting public examinations and awarding certificates in English-speaking countries in the region.
It runs the certificate examinations twice a year: the first in May/June for school candidates and the second in October/November for private candidates.
The message reads, in part: “URGENT NOTICE TO THE FOLLOWING SECONDARY SCHOOLS REGARDING WITHHELD RESULTS.”
It includes the names of 151 Nigerian schools.
The message instructs all affected school principals to appear before the council by 16 August 2025, bringing with them “supporting documentation and the affected candidates' exam scripts”.
It appears to have been signed by Dr Florence Omobonike Ajayi, who’s alleged to be WAEC’s director of examination malpractice and irregularities in Nigeria.
The same message also appears here, here and here.
In October 2023, WAEC disowned a similar message, which claimed it had rated Abia state as the best-performing state in the WASSCE.
Is this yet another fake message? We checked.
Ignore message, says council
If true, such a message could damage the reputation of the affected schools and prompt parents to withdraw their children from them.
On 5 August 2025, WAEC said the list should be disregarded.
“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,” it said.
Other posts making this false claim appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
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