Kano State has emerged as the leading state in Nigeria based on the number of candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).
According to a statement issued on Saturday by Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director-General, Media and Publicity to the Kano State Government, 74,413 Kano candidates achieved the benchmark.
Lagos State came second with 72,496 candidates, while Oyo State ranked third with 55,543 candidates.
The achievement marks the second consecutive year Kano has recorded the highest number of candidates meeting the five-credit benchmark, having also topped the 2025 NECO performance chart.
Reacting to the result, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf congratulated students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders for what he described as an outstanding performance.
The governor said the back-to-back performance demonstrated that the state government’s sustained investment in education was producing measurable results.
He 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.
According to the statement, the state government spent more than N4.4 billion in 2026 to sponsor candidates for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, particularly indigent students.
The government said the intervention was aimed at removing financial barriers and enabling students to sit for the examinations under better conditions.
The governor also linked the latest NECO performance to broader investments in the education sector, including classroom renovation, recruitment of teachers, provision of learning materials and uniforms, scholarships and other interventions.
Education has consistently received one of the largest allocations in Kano’s budget under the Yusuf administration.
The statement said education accounted for about 29.95 per cent of the state’s budget in 2024, while the allocation increased to N168.35 billion, representing 31 per cent, in the 2025 budget.
For 2026, the government allocated N405.35 billion to education, representing about 30 per cent of the state’s N1.478 trillion budget.
The government also highlighted several awards and recognitions received by Governor Yusuf for his administration’s education policies, including awards from Leadership Newspaper, New Telegraph, the Nigeria Union of Teachers and Blueprint Newspaper.
It said the administration also received international recognition in London and Paris in 2026 for its education-related initiatives.
The statement further listed other recognitions received by the governor, including the Vanguard Governor of the Year Award for Good Governance in 2024, the BusinessDay Governor of the Year Award in 2025 and the African Governor of the Year Award by African Leadership Magazine in Casablanca, Morocco.
Governor Yusuf dedicated the latest NECO achievement to Kano students, teachers, parents and residents, assuring them that his administration would sustain its investment in education.
He said the government’s 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 statement added that Kano recorded more than five million schoolchildren in its latest annual school census.
