Kano governor misrepresents state’s performance in 2025 NECO results

Contrary to Kano Governor Abba Yusuf’s claim, Kano was not the best-performing state in the recently released 2025 National Examinations Council (NECO) internal Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).

Governor Yusuf had taken to his Facebook page to make the claim and attributed the spurious feat to the ‘direct result’ of his administration’s reforms in the education sector.

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“It is heartwarming that Kano State has emerged as the best-performing state in the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE Internal), conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO),” he wrote.

“This unprecedented success reflects our education-driven leadership, which has consistently placed funding, infrastructure, and access to learning at the top of our government’s priorities.”

Mr Yusuf also claimed that while Kano was ranked in the first place, Lagos and Oyo states came second and third, respectively.

His claim has been published by several Nigerian newspapers, including Tribune, Business Day, Guardian, Channels Television, and TVC.

What the data shows

After reviewing the data for 2025 NECO internal SSCE results, PREMIUM TIMES can now report that Kano did not rank top in performance.

What happened instead is that over half of Kano’s candidates failed to secure five credits, including English and Mathematics, in the 2025 NECO SSCE internal examinations.

What Kano led with was population, as it housed more than 10 per cent of candidates who sat this year’s examination and just five per cent of candidates who secured at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics –one of the prerequisites for admissions into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Kano is one of the bottom ten states by performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE copy — **Kano is one of the bottom ten states by performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE**

Ranked by pass-rate, Kano placed 29th out of Nigeria’s 37 regions (including the Federal Capital Territory), and not first as the governor claimed.

Also, Kano did not rank above Lagos and Oyo states, as he claimed.

In fact, the state is only ranked above eight northern states, namely, Yobe, Adamawa, Plateau, Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara, and Sokoto.

2025 NECO Statistics

Announcing the release of the result last week, NECO Registrar Dantani Wushishi, a professor, said 1,358,339 candidates – comprising 680,292 males and 678,047 females– sat for the examination.

Mr Wushishi said 60.26 per cent (818,492) of the candidates secured at least a credit in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

He added that 84.26 per cent secured five credits and above, irrespective of Mathematics and English.

Top-performing state

PREMIUM TIMES review of the performance data revealed that Abia was the top-performing state by pass-rate.

The data obtained from the examination body shows that 83.31 per cent of 11,260 candidates who sat the examination in Abia passed with at least five credits, including English and Mathematics.

**Kano state’s performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE (Internal)**

Meanwhile, more than half of Kano’s candidates –50.16 per cent– failed as only 49.84 per cent of its 136,762 candidates secured at least five credits, including English and Mathematics.

Only eight Nigerian states have a poorer pass-rate than Kano. They are Yobe (48.13 per cent), Adamawa (47.99 per cent), Plateau (46.46 per cent), Borno (44.72 per cent), Jigawa (43.81 per cent), Katsina (42.89 per cent), Zamfara (42.12 per cent) and Sokoto (35 per cent).

Governor Yusuf’s misrepresentation

What the Kano State governor touted as ‘top-performance’ was actually population.

The data from NECO, which the governor referenced, was a ranking of states by the number of students who passed.

By the sheer population of candidates from them, Kano, Lagos, Oyo, and Benue were at the top of this ranking. But it doesn’t reflect the actual performance in the states.

For instance, only 49 per cent of Kano candidates passed the examination. For Lagos, 71 per cent passed, and 60.07 per cent in Oyo state.

Yet, when ranked by sheer figures, Kano has the highest with 68,159, even though it is only 49.84 per cent of its population. In comparison, Lagos’ 71 per cent pass rate is 67,007, and Oyo’s 60 per cent is 48,742.

S/N	States	No. of Candidates Sat	5 Credits and Above incl. Math. and Eng.	Pass-rate	Failure rate
1	ABIA	11,260	9,381	83.31%	16.69%
2	IMO	23,675	19,672	83.09%	16.91%
3	EBONYI	14,143	11,399	80.60%	19.40%
4	ANAMBRA	33,192	25,493	76.80%	23.20%
5	BAYELSA	6,593	4,871	73.88%	26.12%
6	DELTA	21,168	15,474	73.10%	26.90%
7	OSUN	39,933	29,006	72.64%	27.36%
8	OGUN	49,987	36,095	72.21%	27.79%
9	LAGOS	93,381	67,007	71.76%	28.24%
10	EKITI	19,675	13,478	68.50%	31.50%
11	ENUGU	27,646	18,925	68.45%	31.55%
12	AKWA-IBOM	19,513	13,090	67.08%	32.92%
13	KADUNA	46,208	30,800	66.66%	33.34%
14	EDO	25,673	17,064	66.47%	33.53%
15	BENUE	56,711	37,506	66.14%	33.86%
16	RIVERS	38,811	25,567	65.88%	34.12%
17	CROSS-RIVER	18,533	12,198	65.82%	34.18%
18	KOGI	28,582	18,729	65.53%	34.47%
19	GOMBE	16,294	10,562	64.82%	35.18%
20	NASARAWA	47,091	30,480	64.73%	35.27%
21	KEBBI	5,274	3,387	64.22%	35.78%
22	ONDO	33,926	21,180	62.43%	37.57%
23	KWARA	31,410	19,565	62.29%	37.71%
24	TARABA	41,387	25,276	61.07%	38.93%
25	FCT-ABUJA	34,040	20,655	60.68%	39.32%
26	OYO	81,145	48,742	60.07%	39.93%
27	NIGER	33,112	18,637	56.28%	43.72%
28	BAUCHI	38,230	20,118	52.62%	47.38%
29	KANO	136,762	68,159	49.84%	50.16%
30	YOBE	28,556	13,743	48.13%	51.87%
31	ADAMAWA	52,765	25,322	47.99%	52.01%
32	PLATEAU	35,974	16,714	46.46%	53.54%
33	BORNO	37,179	16,626	44.72%	55.28%
34	JIGAWA	33,405	14,635	43.81%	56.19%
35	KATSINA	34,506	14,801	42.89%	57.11%
36	ZAMFARA	30,166	12,706	42.12%	57.88%
37	SOKOTO	32,200	11,270	35.00%	65.00%
38	BENIN REPUBLIC	33	19	57.58%	42.42%
39	COTE D'IVOIRE	18	11	61.11%	38.89%
40	TOGO	25	23	92.00%	8.00%
41	KINGDOM-OF-SAUDI-ARABIA	8	6	75.00%	25.00%
42	NIGER REPUBLIC	116	78	67.24%	32.76%
43	EQUATORIAL GUINEA	33	22	66.67%	33.33%
44	TOTAL	1,358,339	818,492	60.26%	39.74%

Essentially, Kano has more candidates who failed the NECO SSCE –both in figures and in percentages– than those who passed. While 68,603 candidates or 51 per cent failed, 68,159 or 49 per cent passed.

Therefore, while Kano’s 49.84 per cent pass-rate amounts to 68,159 candidates, Abia’s 83.31 per cent pass-rate was from only 9,381 candidates.

Additionally, although Kano has 10 per cent of all candidates who sat the examination, it only has five per cent of candidates who passed.

READ ALSO: NECO releases 2025 SSCE results, records 60% pass

Top ten states by performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE (2) — **Top ten states by performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE**

The top 10 states by performance

Abia – 83.31 per cent

Imo – 83.09 per cent

Ebonyi – 80.60 per cent

Anambra – 76.80 per cent

Bayelsa – 73.88 per cent

Delta – 73.10 per cent

Osun – 72.64 per cent

Ogun – 72.21 per cent

Lagos – 71.76 per cent

Ekiti – 68.50 per cent

**Kano is one of the bottom ten states by performance in the 2025 NECO SSCE**

Bottom 10 states by performance

28. Bauchi – 52.62 per cent
29. Kano – 49.84 per cent
30. Yobe – 48.13 per cent
31. Adamawa – 47.99 per cent
32. Plateau – 46.46 per cent
33. Borno – 44.72 per cent
34. Jigawa – 43.81 per cent
35. Katsina – 42.89 per cent
36. Zamfara – 42.12 per cent
37. Sokoto – 35.00 per cent