The Kano State Government has reacted to PREMIUM TIMES story that exposes how it used absolute numbers to misrepresent the performance of the state in the recently released 2025 National Examinations Council (NECO) internal Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).
The state government has doubled down on its claim, misrepresenting its true performance and ranking in the 2025 examinations.
What Kano is saying
In a statement by its Commissioner for Communication and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, Kano claims it remains the ‘most successful in the 2025 NECO’ examinations.
Mr Waiya maintained that the NECO Registrar, Dantani Wushishi, a professor, while announcing the result, declared that Kano state produced the highest number of candidates who passed with five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
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“Contrary to the so-called selective data interpretation being peddled, the NECO Registrar’s statement remains the most authoritative and credible declaration of the examination performance ranking by states for any sensible, reasonable person or organisation to rely upon,” he said.
“The claim that some other state topped the performance table is, therefore, a gross misrepresentation of the facts and a calculated attempt at manipulating public perception and the positive image the state government enjoys owing to the stellar performance of the Kano State’s students at the 2025 NECO exams.”
What Kano led with and what it did not
However, Mr Waiya and the Kano state government’s claim is a misrepresentation of actual performance data of Nigeria’s 37 regions (including the Federal Capital Territory).
While Kano had the highest number of candidates who passed the examination with five credits, including English and Mathematics, it also had the highest number of candidates who failed the examinations.
Only 49.84 per cent of Kano candidates passed the examination. The remaining 50.16 per cent of candidates failed.
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Kano fielded a total of 136,762 candidates, out of which 68,159 passed and 68,603 failed.
Meanwhile, 83.31 per cent of Abia candidates passed, the highest pass-rate in the country.
Abia fielded 11,260 candidates, and 9,381 passed, with only 1,879 candidates who failed.
Yet, Kano continues to claim it is the state with the highest performance in the examination.

























