More than 58,000 pupils across Nigeria participated in the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), with education authorities expressing satisfaction over the smooth and orderly conduct of the exercise.
Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, said 58,187 candidates sat for the examination, noting that female candidates outnumbered their male counterparts, with over 31,000 girls registered compared to about 26,000 boys.
Speaking after monitoring centres in Abuja alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, Wushishi said reports from across the country indicated that the examination was largely hitch-free.
The minister also expressed satisfaction with the organisation of the exercise but raised concerns over absenteeism recorded in some centres, calling for an investigation into the reasons candidates failed to show up.
She reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to improving educational infrastructure, noting that the centres visited had adequate facilities for the examination.
CliqMetro gathered that the statistics released by NECO showed that Lagos State recorded the highest number of registered candidates with 13,228, while Taraba State had the lowest with 15 candidates.