Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – A total of 58,187 candidates sat for the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) on Saturday for admission into Federal Government Colleges across Nigeria.
The Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, disclosed this while monitoring the examination alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, in Abuja.
Mr. Wushishi said the figure was lower than the 64,578 candidates who registered for the examination in 2025.
He said female candidates accounted for the majority of registrations, with more than 31,000 girls compared with about 26,000 boys.
According to him, the trend reflects ongoing efforts by the Federal Ministry of Education to promote girl-child education across the country.
Mr. Wushishi also said reports received from examination centres nationwide indicated that the exercise was largely conducted without major incidents.
After visiting three centres in Abuja, Prof. Ahmad expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examination, saying candidates were orderly and examinations started on schedule.
She, however, raised concerns about absentee candidates observed in some centres and said authorities would investigate the reasons behind the absences.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to improving educational infrastructure and learning conditions in schools.
NECO data showed that Lagos recorded the highest number of candidates with 13,228 registrations, while Taraba had the lowest with 15 candidates.
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Oluwafunbi Bello 
Korede Abdullah 