State Performance in NECO 2026: Who Did Best and Who Struggled

Candidates' performance in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) by the National Examinations Council (NECO) dropped slightly compared to last year, according to an analysis by PREMIUM TIMES.

The state-by-state performance review showed that only 19 out of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) scored above the national average of 60.13 percent.

The data from NECO's breakdown of the 2026 SSCE revealed that the pass rate in the 18 other states fell below the average.

This ranking is based on the number of candidates in each state who got at least five credits, including English and Mathematics, rather than the total number of candidates who passed.

Ten states with the lowest performance in 2026 NECO

2026 NECO Result

Last week in Minna, Niger State, NECO Registrar Dantani Wushishi, a professor, announced this year’s results. He stated that 58.67 percent of the candidates who took the exam got five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics.

Mr Wushishi said that 1,378,048 candidates registered for the examination, but only 1,371,992 showed up.

He revealed that 804,948 candidates, which is 58.67 percent of those who sat for the exam, passed with at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.

To gain admission into Nigerian universities, candidates must score at least a credit in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

This means that 567,044 or 41.33 percent of the candidates who took this year's NECO did not meet this requirement.

The results indicate a slight decline from last year's performance, where 60.26 percent of candidates passed.

NECO noted that cases of examination malpractice reduced from 3,878 in 2025 to 1,406 in 2026, according to the examination body.

Best-performing states

For the second year in a row, Abia State had the highest percentage of candidates who passed among Nigeria's 36 states and the FCT. It was the best-performing state.

The data analysis showed that 81.78 percent of candidates from Abia met the five-credit requirement.

Top, bottom 10 states by performance in 2026 NECO

Ebonyi State came next with 81.03 percent, while Ekiti ranked third with 77.68 percent. Ekiti moved up from 10th place last year with 68.50 percent to third this year.

Lagos, which had the second-largest number of candidates in the exam, came sixth by percentage. Of its 97,771 candidates, 72,496 passed, which is 74.15 percent.

Oyo, Imo, and Bayelsa followed closely, recording 74.12, 74.10, and 73.92 percent respectively.

Ogun State rounded out the top 10 with 73.34 percent.

Least-performing states

Sokoto State had the lowest performance, with only a 26.82 percent pass rate.

Jigawa State had a 48.95 percent pass rate, while the FCT recorded 46.18 percent.

Kano, which had the largest number of candidates, ranked 31st by percentage. Only 74,413 or 45.85 percent of its 162,302 candidates passed with five credits, including English and Mathematics.

Yobe followed with 44.57 percent, then Katsina at 41.54 percent and Borno at 40.34 percent.

Adamawa and Akwa Ibom had 37.76 and 37.42 percent, respectively.

Full state-by-state ranking

**Table 3A:****Analysis of Candidates Performance by States in 2026 SSCE (Internal)

S/N**StateCandidates RegisteredCandidates Sat**5 Credits and Above incl. Math. and Eng.**5 Credits and Above incl. Math. and Eng. (%)

001ABIA11,85711,8209,66681.78%

002EBONYI14,26414,13311,45281.03%

003EKITI18,17718,17314,11777.68%

004DELTA23,96023,82617,91075.17%

005OSUN35,09835,07126,06074.31%

006LAGOS98,23097,77172,49674.15%

007OYO75,00474,93755,54374.12%

008IMO23,19623,10917,12374.10%

009BAYELSA7,3417,2735,37673.92%

010OGUN53,97953,83739,48373.34%

011EDO27,77027,61019,65471.18%

012ANAMBRA37,54837,31526,01069.70%

013ONDO27,83527,82219,23669.14%

014KWARA27,88427,85919,22669.01%

015KOGI24,97724,95216,97968.05%

016BENUE50,36450,34834,01767.56%

017KADUNA44,57044,50328,18463.33%

018CROSS-RIVER16,78116,74110,40962.18%

019KEBBI5,0525,0503,04960.38%

020BAUCHI37,78537,68121,73657.68%

021PLATEAU35,79335,76420,62757.68%

022RIVERS45,72345,65725,74156.38%

023ZAMFARA23,37023,35512,92355.33%

024TARABA46,50845,35524,87654.85%

025ENUGU29,47829,32615,99054.52%

026NASARAWA49,78649,43926,49153.58%

027NIGER31,89831,86216,81552.77%

028GOMBE16,94516,9448,90652.56%

029JIGAWA34,52234,51916,89748.95%

030FCT-ABUJA37,94237,75917,43746.18%

031KANO162,578162,30274,41345.85%

032YOBE29,84629,84213,30244.57%

033KATSINA26,80626,78111,12441.54%

034BORNO38,72138,61115,57540.34%

035ADAMAWA53,94353,13420,06237.76%

036AKWA-IBOM20,76920,7207,75437.42%

037SOKOTO31,61030,6618,22226.82%

038Other countries (Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Togo, Cote D'Voire, Saudi Arabia)138130670.51538461538462

****TOTAL13813067************************************************************************