Kano Ranked 29th in 2025 NECO Exams – Contrary to Governor Yusuf’s Claims.
By Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu Democracy Newsline Newspaper September 26th, 2025
Contrary to claims made by Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, that Kano State topped the 2025 NECO senior secondary school examinations, independent findings have revealed that this is not true.
Governor Yusuf had boldly declared that Kano State came first in the national examination due to his administration’s efforts to revamp the education sector in the state. He further claimed that Lagos and Oyo States followed Kano in second and third positions, respectively, based on the released NECO results.
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However, an in-depth investigation conducted by PREMIUM TIMES to verify the governor’s statement revealed a different reality: Kano State did not come first in performance, but rather ranked 29th out of 37 states, including the FCT (Abuja).
What the data actually shows is that Kano had the highest number of candidates who sat for the NECO exams, making up 10% of all students nationwide. This significant number may have been misinterpreted or misrepresented as academic performance.
The analysis indicates that more than 50% of Kano students failed the NECO exams, particularly in core subjects like Mathematics and English Language – two essential requirements for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
This means that Kano State had the highest number of students who failed the NECO exams in absolute terms, when considering both the number of candidates and pass rates.
Bottom 10 States in 2025 NECO Performance (Pass Rate)
Rank State Pass Rate
28 Bauchi 52.62%
29 Kano 49.84%
30 Yobe 48.13%
31 Adamawa 47.99%
32 Plateau 46.46%
33 Borno 44.72%
34 Jigawa 43.81%
35 Katsina 42.89%
36 Zamfara 42.12%
37 Sokoto 35.00%
Kano’s performance, while slightly better than eight other northern states, still places it in the bottom quarter of the national rankings.
Top 10 Best-Performing States in 2025 NECO
Rank State Pass Rate
1 Abia 83.31%
2 Imo 83.09%
3 Ebonyi 80.60%
4 Anambra 76.80%
5 Bayelsa 73.88%
6 Delta 73.10%
7 Osun 72.64%
8 Ogun 72.21%
9 Lagos 71.76%
10 Ekiti 68.50%
These results clearly show that southern states dominated the top spots in terms of students’ performance in the 2025 NECO exams.
In conclusion, while Governor Yusuf’s administration may indeed be making efforts to improve education in Kano, the results of the 2025 NECO examination do not support the claim that the state came first nationally. Instead, they highlight a need for urgent and sustained intervention in Kano’s education sector.
