The West African Examinations Council seized 180, 2015 results of the 1,590, 173 candidates who sat for May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Nigeria.

Mr Olu Adenipekun, Head of National Office (HNO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), gave the figure while announcing the release of the results at a news conference on Friday in Lagos. He said the results for another 122,000 were being processed.

He said the results withheld were in connection with reported cases of examination malpractice.

He told journalists that the cases were being investigated, adding that reports of the investigation would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council in due course.

“The committee’s decision will be communicated to the affected candidates through their various schools,” he said.

Adenipekun however had some cheering news to share. Out of the 1,590,173 candidates who sat for the exam in 18,639 schools nationwide, 1,020,519 obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.

According to him, a total of 1,309,570 candidates also obtained credits and above in a minimum of any five subjects, with or without English Language and or mathematics.

He said the result was an improvement in candidates’ performances than in 2018.

According to Adenipekun, 1,596161 candidates registered for the examination in secondary schools in Nigeria. Some of the candidates sat for exam in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, where Nigerian curriculum for the Senior Secondary School was used.

Adenipekun gave the assurance that efforts were being made to speedily complete the processing so that all the affected candidates would get their results fully processed and released subsequently.

According to him, 299 of the candidates who sat for the examination are visually impaired, 842 have impaired hearing, 158 have low vision, 75 are spastic cum mentally challenged and 85, physically challenged.

“All these candidates with special needs were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination.

“The results of these candidates have been processed and released along with other candidates,” he said.

He said that the details of the results were already available online.