The result portal of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is now functioning again after hours of malfunction, following complaints from candidates who said they could not access their 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results through the council’s online platforms.

On X, where WAEC directed candidates to generate e-PINs and check their results through its digital platforms, users said the process was failing at different stages. Some said they could not generate their result checker PINs, while others shared screenshots showing error messages such as “ Result not available for this candidate in the specified year and exam date ,” and “ Result checker card has been used by another candidate .”

Others complained that unsuccessful attempts were counting against the limited number of times a result checker PIN can be used, adding to the frustration for candidates trying to access results immediately after release.

“ Please make a video on how to check it because this is what I’m seeing on the website ,” one user, @Calmnpeace51330, wrote under WAEC’s announcement.

Another user, @OLUWAFERANMHI22, claimed an unsuccessful attempt had already consumed one of the permitted uses of a checker PIN, while several others said the portal displayed “No record for candidate” when they attempted to generate their PINs.

Technext said it could confirm that the portal is now working properly, although WAEC had not publicly responded to the complaints on its official X account as of the time of publication.

Digital rollout faces early pressure

The complaints came shortly after WAEC introduced a new online process for recovering serial numbers and checker PINs. Earlier on Wednesday, the examination body instructed candidates to visit its website, enter their examination number and National Identification Number (NIN), verify their identity with a one-time password, and generate an e-PIN for result checking.

The issues emerged as thousands of candidates attempted to access the platform at the same time following the release announcement, a reminder that digital public-facing systems can face heavy strain when results are released in large batches. It was not immediately clear whether the errors were caused by traffic, candidate-specific issues, or another technical problem, but many candidates said the messages prevented them from accessing their results immediately after release.

WAEC withholds over 167,000 results

The portal complaints came alongside WAEC’s announcement that it withheld the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat for the examination, over alleged examination malpractice.

Speaking during the results announcement in Lagos, Head of the Council’s Nigeria Office, Dr Amos Dangut, attributed the cases to offences including the use of mobile phones in examination halls and organised cheating involving some schools.

According to the examination body, 1,959,668 candidates registered for the examination, while 1,950,726 eventually sat for it. The council said 1,200,514 candidates, representing 61.54 per cent, obtained credits in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. It added that 1,834,695 candidates, or 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released, while 116,031 results were still being processed.