The controversy over the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results has escalated, with the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre summoning a West African Examinations Council official, Olanrewaju Fadehan, over alleged cyberstalking and criminal defamation.
Fadehan, who is the Head of Examinations at WAEC’s Anambra office, is expected to appear before the NPF-NCCC in Abuja at 10am on Wednesday for questioning.
The invitation was signed by the centre’s Director, AIG Akaninyene Ezima.
The police action came shortly after the Lagos State High Court issued an interim order restraining Fadehan from making further publications allegedly capable of damaging the reputation of WAEC and its Director-General, Dr Amos Dangut.
Fadehan confirmed receiving the court papers and said he was prepared to appear before the police.
“They’ve even done that already. At least, they sent me a court paper yesterday (Monday). That one is an interim injunction that I should not post anything any longer,” he said.
On the police invitation, he added, “They’re taking me to the cybercrime centre in Abuja. Tomorrow (Wednesday), I’m supposed to appear before them.”
The order was issued by Justice Yetunde Adesanya in Suit No. LD/ADR/6656/2026.
The court barred Fadehan from “publishing, broadcasting, circulating or disseminating” alleged defamatory, maligning or injurious falsehoods concerning WAEC, its examinations, results and certificates, or Dangut’s character and integrity.
The restriction covers written, audio and video publications across platforms, including YouTube and WhatsApp.
The interim order is to remain in force for seven days unless extended by the court.
WAEC and Dangut are seeking N825m from Fadehan in damages and costs.
The claim includes N500m general damages for libel, N300m aggravated and exemplary damages and N25m costs.
They are also asking the court to compel Fadehan to retract the publications, apologise publicly and delete the disputed materials from all platforms.
The legal dispute followed a series of videos published by Fadehan in which he questioned aspects of the recently released 2026 WASSCE results and called for a review.
Fadehan had raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the conduct and administration of the examination, including the provision of calculators and candidates’ identification cards.
He alleged that some candidates were not supplied with suitable calculators and that this may have affected their performance in Mathematics and other calculation-based subjects.
He also raised questions over charges imposed on candidates and other people seeking WAEC-related services, as well as alleged financial impropriety within the council.
Following the controversy, Fadehan petitioned the WAEC Board, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examining Bodies and the Minister of Education.
He alleged that instead of addressing the issues contained in his petitions, the council subjected him to disciplinary proceedings and placed him on interdiction.
WAEC, however, has rejected his claims, accusing him of spreading false and sensational information against the organisation.
Through its lawyers, Union Attorneys, the council alleged that Fadehan released several videos attacking WAEC and Dangut.
The lawyers cited publications with titles including “Tyranny in WAEC, Nigeria: Dangut must go,” “WAEC: My alleged offence and the overbearing sanctions,” and “Anomalies in WAEC – Series 1: I won’t wait.”
They also alleged that Fadehan published a video titled “Dangut is a thief”.
According to the lawyers, the publications contained inaccurate and reckless allegations and continued despite a cease-and-desist letter sent to Fadehan on August 24.
WAEC spokesperson Moyosola Adesina separately accused Fadehan of using the controversy to spite the council.
The council also alleged that Fadehan was involved with some employees in the alleged misappropriation and attempted concealment of hundreds of litres of diesel from an underground tank at its Awka office.
WAEC said Fadehan began making the allegations after serving a four-week suspension.
The council stressed that Fadehan remained its employee and that his employment had not been terminated, contrary to claims allegedly made by him.
It added that his allegations had been investigated at different levels and found to be false.
Fadehan, however, denied the fuel-related allegations.
According to him, an internal panel that investigated the matter established that no one stole the fuel and concluded that the shortage resulted from leakage.
“The panel resolved that nobody stole anything,” he said.
He further argued that the fuel matter had nothing to do with his current interdiction, insisting that the disciplinary action arose from allegations of defamation.
“So, it was based on the issue of defamation now that I was put on interdiction. It has nothing to do with fuel,” he said.
Fadehan also dismissed suggestions that he was motivated by resentment over the disciplinary measures against him.
“I’m not bitter. I’ve appealed what they did. So I’m not bitter,” he said.
Meanwhile, independent concerns about the 2026 WASSCE results have continued to grow, with Educare Chief Executive Officer, Alex Onyia, calling for an independent audit of WAEC’s systems.
In a post on X on Saturday, Onyia alleged that WAEC experienced another major technical problem during a staff recruitment examination conducted the previous day.
He claimed the same system had been used for the students’ examination, which he said was also affected by significant glitches.
“WAEC’s current systems and processes need to be independently audited,” Onyia wrote.
On September 4, Onyia said the debate should focus less on the qualifications and personalities of WAEC officials and more on the performance of candidates and the circumstances surrounding the results.
He questioned why the results appeared to show an unusually high level of failure, particularly among candidates in Lagos and Ogun states.
Onyia said WAEC should investigate whether there were problems with the examination papers, marking, grading, moderation or administration.
He also questioned whether particular regions were disproportionately affected by whatever factors produced the results.
According to him, an unusually high failure rate should compel an examining body to scrutinise its own processes rather than simply attribute the outcome to candidates.
He urged stakeholders to avoid ethnic, personal and qualification-based arguments, saying the priority should be establishing what happened to the affected candidates.
With the police invitation and court injunction now added to the dispute, the controversy over the 2026 WASSCE results has moved beyond questions about examination performance to a wider confrontation involving allegations of misconduct, institutional accountability and freedom to raise concerns about the examination process.
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