By Ghazali Ibrahim 
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has revoked the licences of 574 schools across Nigeria over confirmed cases of examination malpractice, ahead of the maiden edition of the Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for school candidates.
The announcement was made on Thursday by the Head of WAEC’s Nigeria National Office (HNO), Dr. Josiah Dangut, during a pre-examination media briefing in Lagos.
Dr. Dangut stated that the revocation is part of a broader strategy to uphold the integrity of public examinations.
“574 schools are those ones that have got their licences revoked as far as examination centre is concerned. We will not conduct examinations there,” he said.
“All centres that have been found culpable in examination malpractice and have been sanctioned by a particular examining body will also be sanctioned by other examination bodies.”
He warned that schools with histories of malpractice will no longer be recognised for hosting national or regional examinations and stressed that inter-agency collaboration will ensure that such sanctions are enforced across the board.
WAEC also confirmed that no fewer than 1,973,253 candidates from 23,554 schools are registered to sit for the first-ever CB-WASSCE for school candidates, scheduled to hold between April 24 and June 20, 2025, across the country. Candidates will be tested in 74 subjects.
The HNO revealed that this year’s candidate figure marks an increase of 158,627 compared to the previous cycle.
He added that the National Identification Number (NIN) is now a mandatory component of the registration process, in line with the Federal Government’s directive.
To tackle widespread cheating, WAEC has introduced a new question variation system where no two candidates will have identical question sets on each number, a move aimed at curbing collaboration and malpractice during exams.
Dr. Dangut assured candidates and stakeholders that results would be released within 45 days after the last paper is written, while certificates will be issued to schools in under 90 days after result release.
