The battle against examination malpractice in Nigeria has entered a new phase, with stakeholders increasingly looking to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) as a potent instrument for restoring credibility to public examinations.
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The debate has gained fresh urgency following the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) disclosure that the results of 167,486 candidates who sat for the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were withheld over suspected examination malpractice. The figure represents 8.59 per cent of about 1.2 million candidates who participated in the examination.
Although the figure marks an improvement from the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025, education stakeholders argue that the reduction is not enough. They maintain that Nigeria must dismantle the networks that facilitate cheating, particularly so-called “miracle centres”, where examination supervisors, teachers and external collaborators are alleged to assist candidates improperly.
The Federal Government had earlier announced plans to migrate WAEC and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations from the conventional paper-and-pencil format to CBT. The transition, modelled partly on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) system, began with pilot and hybrid arrangements, while full implementation for all papers is now scheduled for 2027.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa had argued that the reform was necessary to curb the persistent cheating that has tainted the credibility of public examinations. Yet stakeholders insist that computers alone cannot extinguish a problem rooted in a wider ecosystem of poor preparation, institutional weakness and complicity.
Professor Boniface Odeh, President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), described miracle centres as a serious threat to the integrity of WAEC and NECO examinations. He linked their proliferation to inadequate teaching, poor student preparation, pressure on schools to produce impressive pass rates and a societal fixation on certificates rather than genuine competence.
Odeh nevertheless described CBT as a welcome reform, while advocating stronger biometric verification, closer supervision and tougher sanctions for offenders.
In Benue, WAEC official Timothy Mang also expressed concern over reports of alleged miracle centres, warning that schools should be recognised for the quality of instruction they provide rather than their ability to facilitate examination malpractice.
Other education experts believe the examination system itself requires a broader overhaul. Professor Ntiaobong Ekong, an educationist and former Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Uyo, proposed that continuous assessment should account for a larger proportion of students’ final grades. He suggested a 70 per cent weighting for continuous assessment and 30 per cent for major examinations, arguing that such an arrangement could encourage sustained academic preparation.
The Akwa Ibom Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Edet Emenyi, called for strategic consultations involving government, school principals, examination bodies and relevant agencies. He also stressed the need to recruit more teachers, improve public-school facilities and strengthen examination supervision.
For Dr. ‘Niyi Sunmonu, National President of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), examination malpractice should not be viewed simply as misconduct committed by individual students. He described it as a systemic affliction involving candidates, parents, schools, examination officials and organised networks.
Sunmonu called for a multilayered security framework incorporating biometric identification, serialised and randomised questions, data analytics, risk-based monitoring and greater accountability for examination officials. He also argued that operators of miracle centres must be identified and subjected to appropriate sanctions.
The Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED) similarly expressed optimism that the CBT reforms could further reduce malpractice. Its National President, Orji Kalu Emmanuel, pointed to curriculum reform and the National Centralised Continuous Assessment Platform as additional measures that could make fraudulent manipulation of students’ results more difficult.
Chief ‘Yomi Otubela, National President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) Nigeria, argued that technology must be accompanied by institutional accountability. According to him, examination bodies need to strengthen question security, biometric authentication, surveillance and centre monitoring, while sanctions should be applied fairly and transparently.
He also cautioned against blanket punishment where entire schools or centres have their results withheld, insisting that candidates who are genuinely innocent should have access to a transparent investigation and appeal process.
WAEC has already introduced several measures aimed at tightening examination security, including computer-based examinations, paper serialisation and the Digital Examiner Mark System. The council has also worked with security agencies to apprehend operators of rogue websites allegedly involved in circulating fake examination questions.
Stakeholders, however, believe surveillance must go beyond the examination room. CCTV cameras, improved biometric systems and closer scrutiny of invigilators and supervisors have been proposed as additional safeguards.
The larger challenge is therefore not merely whether CBT can detect cheating. It is whether Nigeria can construct an examination culture in which cheating becomes difficult to organise, risky to facilitate and unnecessary for students who receive adequate preparation.
Parents, teachers, school proprietors and examination officials all have a role to play. As stakeholders have repeatedly warned, a certificate secured through malpractice may appear valuable on paper, but it cannot substitute for the knowledge and competence required beyond the examination hall.
CBT may close some doors through which malpractice currently thrives, but technology alone cannot repair every crack in the system. A credible examination regime will require technology, ethical leadership, rigorous supervision, quality teaching and collective responsibility working in concert.
For Nigeria, the ultimate goal should be bigger than reducing the number of withheld results. The real test is whether examination certificates can once again become reliable evidence of what students genuinely know and can do.
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