Private legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw has given the West African Examinations Council a two-week ultimatum to release the withheld results of 85 schools found to have cheated in the 2016 WASSCE or prepare for a legal battle.

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Maurice Ampaw accused WAEC of shirking responsibility by blaming students for the malpractice insisting the Examination body is guilty of negligence.

According to lawyer Ampaw, the decision by WAEC does not tally with the law seeing that students from the 85 schools involved in the said malpractice were not given a fair hearing in the case and are now being made to unduly suffer the consequence of the examination body's negligence.

Maurice Ampaw is demanding WAEC releases the withheld results by October 31 or be compelled to do so by the country's legal system.

He expressed disappointment in the education minister Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang and her deputy, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for failing to intervene in the situation to ensure the right thing is done to protect the students whom he claims are now distraught. He says some of the students whose results were withheld "...have died, some of them have had BP, some of them cannot do anything, some of them are now engaging in prostitution [and] drugs... These wrongs must be corrected "

The entire results of 598 candidates of this year’s West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were cancelled by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Additionally, the council withheld the results of candidates from 85 schools for alleged cases of mass cheating.