The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed reports suggesting that the results of more than 34,000 candidates have been withheld over alleged examination malpractice.

Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, clarified that the Council has not issued any official statement to that effect, describing the circulating reports as “factually inaccurate.”

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Mr Kapi said WAEC is still investigating cases of irregularities recorded during the just-ended examinations, but has not yet concluded its findings or released any figures.

“We have not released any official statement. I’ve seen the statement being circulated myself, but there are a lot of factual inaccuracies in it. We are still dealing with the issues and have not concluded investigations,” he said.

Mr. Kapi explained that WAEC deployed a more elaborate inspection and monitoring team this year to ensure the credibility of the examination process, but despite the effort, a few cases of malpractice were still detected.

“We had people all over the place monitoring the exams. Of course, there were still some bad nuts in the system, and so we recorded a number of irregularities. However, it is not true that we have withheld the results of over 34,000 candidates. For now, no, we haven’t put any figures out,” he stressed.

Earlier reports had claimed that 34,563 candidates’ results were being withheld due to alleged collusion, impersonation, and the use of unauthorised materials, citing a purported WAEC statement.

WAEC says investigations into suspected malpractice cases are ongoing, and any official information regarding withheld results will only be communicated after the Examinations Committee concludes its review.

The Council urged the public to disregard unverified reports and rely only on information released through its official channels.