National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal, with 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent, obtaining at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics.
Gatekeepers News reports that NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, announced the results on Thursday at the council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State. He said 1,378,048 candidates registered for the examination, while 1,371,992 eventually sat for it.
The 2026 figure represents a 2.64 percentage-point decline from the 60.26 per cent recorded in 2025, when 818,492 candidates obtained five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
Wushishi, however, said 1,162,118 candidates, representing 84.70 per cent, obtained at least five credits irrespective of whether English Language and Mathematics were included.
The examination was conducted from June 15 to July 23 across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as six foreign countries — Benin Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Niger Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Saudi Arabia. The nationwide marking exercise took place between August 17 and September 4.
The council also reported a significant decline in examination malpractice. According to NECO, 1,406 candidates were involved in malpractice cases in 2026, compared with 3,878 candidates recorded in 2025, representing a 64.74 per cent reduction.
The registrar attributed the decline to improved examination processes, strengthened monitoring and collaboration with security agencies and other stakeholders. He particularly commended the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Services for their support during the examination.
The release of the results comes about 63 days after the last paper was written. Candidates can now access their results through the official NECO results portal using their examination details and a result-checking token.
