Kano Tops 2026 NECO Results For Second Consecutive Year, Beats Lagos, Oyo
Kano State has emerged as the leading state in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO), recording the highest number of candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
According to the 2026 NECO performance figures, 74,413 candidates from Kano met the five-credit benchmark, placing the state ahead of Lagos, which recorded 72,496 candidates.
Oyo State came third with 55,543 candidates meeting the same benchmark.
The result means Kano has maintained its position at the top of the national NECO performance chart for the second consecutive year, after also recording the highest number of candidates meeting the five-credit requirement in the 2025 examination.
The development was announced following the release of the 2026 NECO Senior School Certificate Examination results and the accompanying state-by-state performance figures.
Reacting to the result, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf congratulated students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders in the state’s education sector.
The governor said the back-to-back performance showed that the state’s investment in education was producing measurable results.
Yusuf said his administration would continue to prioritise education through increased funding, improvement of learning facilities, recruitment and training of teachers, scholarships and assistance for students from indigent backgrounds.
According to the governor, the Kano State Government spent more than ₦4.4 billion in 2026 to sponsor candidates for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, particularly students who might otherwise struggle to pay examination-related costs.
He said the government’s education interventions extend beyond examination sponsorship to include classroom renovations, provision of learning materials and uniforms, teacher recruitment and training, scholarships and other programmes.
The Kano Government also said education received about 29.95 per cent of the state’s 2024 budget, while ₦168.35 billion, representing about 31 per cent, was allocated to the sector in the 2025 budget.
For 2026, the state allocated ₦405.35 billion to education, representing about 30 per cent of the state’s ₦1.478 trillion budget, according to figures provided by the state government.
Governor Yusuf dedicated the latest NECO performance to Kano’s students, teachers, parents and residents, promising that his administration would sustain its investment in the education sector.
He said the objective was to build an education system capable of equipping young people with the knowledge and skills required for higher education, employment, innovation and leadership.
The governor also said Kano had recorded more than five million schoolchildren in its latest annual school census, highlighting the size of the state’s education system and the number of students served by government interventions.
The 2026 NECO performance figures place Kano ahead of Lagos and Oyo based on the number of candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
The result has consequently given Kano its second consecutive first-place position on the NECO state performance chart.
