The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has come under intense criticism following the sudden shutdown of its result checker portal on Wednesday evening due to “technical issues.”
The development, announced via WAEC’s official X handle, @waecnigeria, sparked widespread backlash as many Nigerians continued to express discontent over the poor performance recorded in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), particularly in the English Language.
Announcing the development, the exam body said, “WAEC hereby informs the general public that the result checker portal @waecdirect.org is temporarily shutdown due to technical issues. However, the Council is working assiduously to ensure that candidates are able to access their results in the next 24 hours. Please bear with us.”
WAEC hereby informs the general public that the result checker portal @waecdirect.org is temporarily shutdown due to technical issues.
However, the Council is working assiduously to ensure that candidates are able to access their results in the next 24 hours.
Please bear with us.— WAEC NIGERIA (@waecnigeria) August 6, 2025
The portal crash notice intensified criticism of the exam body, as many questioned WAEC’s credibility.
On Monday, following the release of the May/June 2025 results, WAEC announced that only 38.32 percent of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat the 2025 WASSCE obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, marking the worst performance recorded in a decade.
Amid the portal crash announcement, many Nigerians have blamed WAEC over what they describe as logistic failure, which allegedly caused the delay in conducting the English Language paper, that held late into the night at many centres on May 28.
However, Nigerians have called for a comprehensive review of the English Language scripts, as many X users shared screenshots of results showing credit passes in other subjects but failure in English.
Below are some of the reactions.
It’s concerning that the English exam, which was delayed at centers nationwide, is now resulting in widespread failures. If @JAMBHQ could make amends, we hope you’ll take steps to rectify the situation. It was a national disgrace.— Mark Imohi (@sikimark) August 6, 2025
The only reason students failed because the exam was written at night and their was a little concentration even to do malpractice was not an option because they were exhausted. WAEC should have cancelled the English entirely.— Bishop Ferdinand (✸,✸) ⛺ (@bishopfedeco) August 7, 2025
Young students in Nigeria are bleeding.
WAEC mass failure in English language is putting their lives at risk.
Some are already suicidal and we need to save them now.
WAEC is the problem and they need to fix it now!— Alex Onyia (@winexviv) August 6, 2025
Imagine having A1 in Physics, Chemistry, Civic, and Further Maths, then scoring D7, E8, or F9 in English.
Why?⁰Leaked paper. Last-minute timetable change. Some wrote the exam at 11pm, drained and unprepared.
Now WAEC brands them “failures”?
⁰These students deserve better. pic.twitter.com/ji5Nng8Dcf— Oluwaseun®️ (@quwam001) August 5, 2025
While many Nigerians accused WAEC of deliberate manipulation for revenue generation, the exam body is yet to offer clarification on the poor performance recorded in English language or respond to the call for a review of affected candidates’ scripts.
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