Kano State has emerged as the leading state in Nigeria in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The state recorded 74,413 candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, placing it ahead of Lagos State, which recorded 72,496 candidates, while Oyo State came third with 55,543 candidates.
The feat marks the second consecutive year Kano has topped the NECO national performance chart, following its similar performance in the 2025 examination.
Reacting to the development, through a press statement by his spokesperson Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Kano State Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf commended the students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders for what he described as an outstanding performance.
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Governor Yusuf said the back-to-back achievement demonstrated that the state’s sustained investment in education was yielding measurable results.
He assured the people of Kano that his administration would continue to prioritise education through increased funding, improved learning facilities, recruitment and training of teachers, scholarships and support for indigent students.
As part of the interventions, the state government spent more than N4.4 billion in 2026 to sponsor candidates for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, particularly indigent students.
According to the governor, the intervention was designed to remove financial barriers and provide students with better opportunities to participate in the examinations.
He said the latest NECO result was further evidence of the improvement being recorded by Kano students under the present administration.
Education has consistently received one of the largest allocations in Kano State’s annual budgets under Governor Yusuf.
In 2024, education accounted for about 29.95 per cent of the state budget, while the allocation rose to N168.35 billion, representing 31 per cent, in the 2025 budget.
For 2026, the state allocated N405.35 billion to the education sector, representing about 30 per cent of the state’s N1.478 trillion budget.
Governor Yusuf said the investment goes beyond examination sponsorship to include classroom renovation, teacher recruitment, provision of learning materials and uniforms, scholarships and other interventions aimed at improving the quality of education across the state.
The administration’s education policies have also attracted several national and international recognitions.
Governor Yusuf dedicated the latest NECO achievement to the students, teachers, parents and people of Kano State, assuring them 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 in Kano with the knowledge and skills required for higher education, employment, innovation and leadership.
The governor noted that Kano’s education system currently serves more than five million schoolchildren, based on the latest annual school census cited by the administration.
