Kano Leads 2026 NECO Results by Five-Credit Benchmark, Lagos, Oyo Follow

Kano State has recorded the highest number of candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

A total of 74,413 candidates in Kano met the five-credit benchmark, placing the state ahead of Lagos, which recorded 72,496 candidates, while Oyo ranked third with 55,543 candidates.

The result marks the second consecutive year Kano has recorded the highest number of candidates meeting the benchmark, after also leading the corresponding 2025 NECO performance ranking.

NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, announced the state-by-state performance while presenting the results of the 2026 SSCE Internal examination.

Nationally, 1,371,992 candidates sat for the examination, with 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent, obtaining at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics.

Reacting to Kano's performance, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, through his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, congratulated the students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders involved in the state's education sector.

Yusuf attributed the consecutive performance to what he described as sustained investment in education and pledged to continue prioritising the sector through increased funding, improved learning facilities, teacher recruitment and training, scholarships and support for indigent students.

The governor disclosed that the Kano State Government spent more than ₦4.4 billion in 2026 to sponsor candidates, particularly indigent students, for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination.

According to Yusuf, the intervention was designed to remove financial barriers and enable more students to participate in the examination under improved conditions.

He said education had consistently received one of the largest shares of the state's budget under his administration. According to figures released by the Kano Government, education accounted for about 29.95 per cent of the state's 2024 budget, while ₦168.35 billion, representing 31 per cent, was allocated to the sector in 2025.

For 2026, the state allocated ₦405.35 billion to education, representing about 30 per cent of its total budget of approximately ₦1.48 trillion.

Yusuf said the spending covered examination sponsorship as well as classroom renovations, teacher recruitment, learning materials, uniforms, scholarships and other interventions intended to improve educational outcomes.

The governor also said the state's education policies had received recognition from various organisations and pledged that his administration would sustain its investment in the sector.

The NECO ranking, however, measures the absolute number of candidates meeting the five-credit benchmark. It does not by itself represent the percentage of candidates who passed in each state or establish that one state's education system performed better than another on every measure.