The 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) got off to a dark start on Thursday across several centres in Oyo, Lagos, Ogun and Osun states.
Due to the late arrival of examination materials, several candidates were forced to sit for papers late into the evening.
On Monday, candidates reportedly waited several hours before writing the Physics Essay and Objective papers, which were scheduled for 2pm and 3:30pm respectively.
The delays persisted on Wednesday, with the General Mathematics Objective paper starting at 6:30pm in some centres and as late as 8:30pm in others, leaving candidates to finish the examination after 10pm.
The situation was said to be particularly severe in some centres in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
The first batch of the Agricultural Science practical examination was slated for 2pm, while the second batch was scheduled for 3:30pm.
However, as of 8pm, some centres in the state had yet to commence the examination.
Due to the delay, candidates reportedly sat the examination under poor lighting conditions.
In a viral video, several students could be seen writing the examination with torchlights, mobile phone flashlights and solar-powered lamps.
The incident has since triggered widespread outrage on social media.
Mariam Kehinde, an X user, said that as of past 8pm on Thursday, her sister was yet to return home from the examination centre.
“What exactly is happening in this country sef? My sister left for her WAEC exam since morning and still hadn’t returned home,” she wrote.
“She called around 6pm saying their exam paper had just arrived at that time nitori olorun. She was still at the exam centre, and my mum even had to wait.”
Adedeji Adeyinka, another user, described Thursday’s conduct of the examination as “particularly disturbing”.
“Candidates writing Government completed the Theory paper and were instructed to wait for the Objective paper, only for the question paper to arrive more than FOUR HOURS later,” he posted.
“How is this acceptable in a national examination? Even more shocking was the situation faced by students writing Agricultural Science Practical. An examination scheduled for 2:00 p.m. did not commence until about 9:00 p.m. in many parts of Oyo State.
“A seven-hour delay is not a minor inconvenience. It is a systemic failure.”
Another X user identified as Mum Ire also lamented the shortage of question papers during Wednesday’s Mathematics examination.
“Out of 75 candidates, only 35 Mathematics question papers were brought to the examination centre for the entire exam yesterday,” she wrote on Thursday.
“When did WAEC start operating like this?
“Now we are being told that the Agriculture Science practical questions are on the way at 8:10 pm.”
Joel Abodunrin also decried the shortage of question papers.
“WAEC’s been doing well until today,” he wrote on Wednesday.
“An examination hall of about 250 candidates and having Mathematics question papers for only 120.
“Getting to tear the questions into pieces so that all could have something to do.”
Hakeem Olaoye, another user, said candidates were being made to write examinations at unreasonable hours.
“WAEC exam being conducted late in the evening.
“The Agric practical exam that was supposed to be held by 2pm just commenced some minutes after 7pm,” he wrote.
“Very disheartening indeed. Likewise for Mathematics. A school with 130 students was given 16 question booklets to share among.”
The development has raised concerns about the safety of candidates amid the country’s growing security challenges.
