Kano leads Lagos, Oyo in 2026 NECO

Kano State has emerged as the leading state in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examinations Council, with 74,413 candidates obtaining at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.

The result places Kano ahead of Lagos, which recorded 72,496 candidates, and Oyo with 55,543 candidates, according to figures released by the Kano State Government.

The development marks the second consecutive year Kano has recorded the highest number of candidates meeting the five-credit benchmark, following its performance in the 2025 NECO examination.

Reacting to the result, Governor Abba Yusuf, in a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, congratulated the students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders.

According to the statement, Yusuf described the performance as an indication that the state’s investment in education was yielding measurable results.

“This back-to-back performance is an indication that our sustained investment in education is producing measurable results,” Yusuf said.

The governor assured residents that his administration would continue to prioritise education through increased funding, improved learning facilities, teacher recruitment and training, scholarships and support for indigent students.

“Our government spent more than N4.4bn in 2026 to sponsor candidates for the Senior School Certificate Examination, particularly indigent students, to remove financial barriers to participation,” the governor said.

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Yusuf said the investment extended beyond examination sponsorship to classroom renovation, recruitment and training of teachers, provision of learning materials, uniforms and scholarships.

“We will continue to invest in education because our objective is to build a system that equips our young people with the knowledge and skills required for higher education, employment, innovation and leadership,” the governor said.

The statement said education had consistently received one of the largest allocations in Kano’s budgets under the Yusuf administration, with the sector allocated N168.35bn, representing 31 per cent of the 2025 budget.

For 2026, the state allocated N405.35bn to education, representing about 30 per cent of its N1.48tn budget, according to the government.

Yusuf dedicated the latest NECO performance to students, teachers, parents and residents of the state, while pledging to sustain interventions aimed at improving learning outcomes.

“This achievement belongs to our students, teachers, parents and the good people of Kano State,” the governor said.

The governor’s spokesman said the state had recorded more than five million schoolchildren in the latest annual school census, underscoring the scale of the government’s education responsibilities.