58,187 Candidates Sit 2026 Common Entrance Exam Nationwide, NECO Reports Decline

A huge education exercise moved across Nigeria on Saturday. In classrooms from Lagos to Taraba, thousands of young candidates sat for the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination. The final number was 58,187. Each candidate was trying to win admission into one of the Federal Government Colleges in the country, and the National Examinations Council, NECO, was responsible for conducting the test.

The figure sounds large, but it came with an uncomfortable drop. In 2025, 64,578 candidates registered for the examination. This year’s total was lower. NECO Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, gave the figures in Abuja after he monitored the examination with the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad. He spoke to journalists when the monitoring exercise ended, and the decline was clear in the numbers.

Then another figure changed the mood. Girls came out in greater numbers than boys. More than 31,000 female candidates registered, while about 26,000 male candidates did the same. For an examination where every child is fighting for a place in a Federal Government College, that difference is hard to ignore.

Wushishi linked the larger number of girls to the work being done to support girl-child education. He said the result reflected the efforts of the Ministry of Education and showed that those efforts were producing positive results. The point was simple and important; more girls were stepping forward, registering and taking part in a major national examination.

The examination itself moved with little trouble, according to reports received from different parts of the country. Wushishi said the exercise was largely peaceful and free from serious incidents. That matters because 58,187 candidates were writing at centres spread across Nigeria. A failure in planning could have created confusion in many places at once, yet the general reports showed that the process held together.

Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad did not remain in an office and wait for written reports. She visited three examination centres in Abuja and watched the process directly. Her stops were Model Secondary School, Maitama; Government Science and Technical College, Garki; and Federal Government Boys’ College, Garki. NECO officials joined her during the exercise.

What she saw pleased her. The candidates were orderly, supervision was in place and the tests began at the expected time. The rooms did not appear to be running in confusion. The basic parts of the examination had been organised properly, and the candidates were able to face their papers under controlled conditions.

Age was another issue under watch. The National Common Entrance Examination has a set age requirement, so registration documents needed to agree with that rule. Ahmad said the records she checked showed that the candidates met the required age conditions. That confirmation removed one possible area of concern at the centres she visited.

Then she noticed the empty seats.

At one hall, about 18 registered candidates were absent. They had places in the room, yet they were not there to write the examination. Ahmad did not brush the issue aside. She said the reasons for the absence must be found. Eighteen missing candidates in one hall may carry eighteen different stories, and the silence of those empty seats deserves attention.

The concern reached beyond one room. When families register children for a national examination and the children fail to appear, something has happened somewhere. Ahmad did not give a reason because the facts were still unknown. She asked for the cause to be established; that was the careful and responsible position.

Facilities at the schools gave a better picture. Ahmad said the centres visited had enough facilities for the examination. Candidates had the space and basic support needed to write. She also repeated the Federal Government’s commitment to improving education facilities across Nigeria. The promise covers a national problem, while the centres in Abuja offered a look at what proper preparation should provide.

The state figures were sharply different at the two ends. Taraba State recorded the lowest registration figure in the country, with only 15 candidates. Lagos State stood at the opposite end with 13,228 candidates. The gap was massive. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, no other state went lower than Taraba or higher than Lagos.

Fifteen in one state. More than thirteen thousand in another. Those figures sat inside the same national examination, and they showed how uneven participation was across Nigeria. The report did not explain why the difference was so wide, so the numbers must stand without guesses. Still, they demand attention because access and participation can look very different from one state to another.

The day therefore carried several stories at the same time. A total of 58,187 candidates sat for the examination, but the number had fallen from the 64,578 registered in 2025. Girls led the registration figures, and officials saw that as progress for girl-child education. The examination ran largely without incident; candidates were orderly, supervision was present and the tests started on time.

Yet the empty seats remained. About 18 candidates were missing from one hall, and the minister wanted answers. Taraba produced only 15 registrations, while Lagos produced 13,228. These are not tiny details hiding under a successful examination. They are part of the full picture.

NECO completed a major nationwide test without reports of serious disorder. That is good news. The strong number of female candidates also gave education officials a reason for hope. However, falling participation, unexplained absence and the brutal gap between state figures cannot simply disappear behind a smooth examination day. The papers were written, the centres were checked and the officials spoke. Now the numbers are staring back, and every one of them says something.