WAEC's move to computer-based testing has sparked a real controversy this year. Underneath it is a simpler, older problem.
In April 2025, Nigeria's Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, directed WAEC and NECO to fully transition WASSCE and NECO exams to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) by 2026. WAEC has been rolling this out in phases: a pilot in schools that already have working ICT facilities, alongside community-based CBT centres for schools that don't.
WAEC released the 2026 WASSCE results on August 5. Of the 1,950,726 candidates who sat the exam, 1,200,514, about 61.5%, obtained credits in at least five subjects including English and Mathematics. The results release was followed by public debate on social media questioning their accuracy, which WAEC has firmly denied, stating that every script goes through "a multi-tiered system of marking, moderation and auditing."
We're not going to litigate that dispute here. What's more directly relevant to our work is a separate, quieter part of this story: a House of Representatives motion asking WAEC to slow the CBT rollout down.
The motion, sponsored by Kelechi Wogu, cited a specific concern: over 70% of Nigerian students are in schools that lack computers, reliable internet, or the personnel to run a CBT exam. It called for the full transition to be phased across a 2026 to 2029 budget cycle, with full implementation pushed to 2030. WAEC has said it will continue pilot testing and act on official directives as they come.
Set the politics of the timeline aside, and the underlying fact is the real story: a national exam is moving online in a country where most schools still don't have dependable connectivity. That's not a WAEC problem or a government problem specifically. It's the same gap Reachable exists to help close, just showing up in a new place.
CBT familiarity is itself a form of access. A student who has never used a computer under exam conditions starts at a disadvantage that has nothing to do with what they know.
The gap is uneven, not universal. Urban students in well-resourced schools are largely unaffected. The students most exposed are the same ones who already face the biggest data and device barriers day to day.
Exam-day infrastructure is a symptom, not the whole disease. If a school lacks reliable internet for one exam sitting, its students likely lack it for research, coursework, and everything else too.
Reachable doesn't run CBT centres or set exam policy. What we do is make sure verified students have real, flexible mobile data, the kind that supports actually preparing for an exam like this: past questions, practice platforms, tutorials, research, whatever a student's specific prep actually requires. The CBT transition is a reminder of how much now quietly depends on a student having real internet access, not just on results day, but every day before it.
This post is based on public reporting as of September 2026, including WAEC's own public statements and coverage of the House of Representatives motion. The CBT rollout timeline and WAEC's response to the motion may change, and we'll update this post if anything material shifts.