Kano State Bureau of Statistics has reaffirmed the lead of candidates from Kano in the recently released 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results by the National Examination Council (NECO).

In a statement signed by Dr Aliyu Isa Aliyu, Statistician-General, Kano State Bureau of Statistics, he disowned a report published by Premium Times, an online platform, which disregarded official data released by NECO.

According to Dr Aliyu, Premium Times relied solely on a selective analysis, with an isolated indicator where Abia State ranked first and deliberately ignored the broader set of indicators that clearly establish Kano as the national leader.

The Statistician-General insisted that data secured from the National Examination Council (NECO) for the purposes of this analysis, as provided by the Registrar, Prof. Wushishi, accused Premium Times of attempting to downplay the achievement of Kano with distorted self-sourced data.

“The attention of the Kano State Bureau of Statistics has been drawn to a publication by Premium Times alleging that His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, erred in stating that Kano produced the highest number of students who scored five credits and above in the 2025 NECO SSCE.

“The Bureau wishes to make it clear that this report is misleading and not reflective of the official statistics released by NECO. As the coordinating body of the State Statistical System, the Bureau carefully reviewed the NECO data and found that Premium Times relied on a selective analysis, isolating only one indicator where Abia State ranked first, while ignoring the broader set of indicators that establish Kano as the national leader.

“For instance, eight candidates sat from Saudi Arabia, and all of them passed, resulting in a 100% performance. If we are to adopt the same ranking logic used by Premium Times, then candidates from Saudi Arabia, Togo, and Niger—who all recorded 100% performance—should technically be ranked higher than Abia itself, since the same overall totals were used in calculating the percentages.

“Based on NECO’s official figures, the Bureau extracted and analysed six major indicators. Out of these, Kano ranked first in five, while Abia led in only one. In the overall performance, Kano had the highest candidate participation with 137,338 registered, 136,762 sat, and 103,579 attained five credits and above, irrespective of Mathematics and English.

“This is the largest absolute figure nationwide, far ahead of Lagos with 85,071 and Oyo with 70,609. In the general state ranking, Kano again placed first with the largest pool of successful candidates, cementing its position as the education hub of Nigeria in 2025.

“Kano also emerged as the leader in female education. Out of 75,115 girls registered and 74,098 who sat, 39,851 obtained five credits including Mathematics and English, the highest in the country, surpassing Lagos with 38,804 and Oyo with 26,371. When considered irrespective of Mathematics and English, Kano again topped the list with 59,771 successful girls, compared to Lagos with 48,202 and Oyo with 33,201.

“This demonstrates Kano’s strength not only in female enrollment but also in achievement, making it the single biggest contributor to girl-child education in Nigeria.

“In male performance, Kano recorded 62,223 registered and 61,854 sat, out of which 43,808 attained five credits irrespective of Mathematics and English, higher than Lagos with 38,869 and Oyo with 22,371.
“Even in the stricter benchmark requiring five credits including Mathematics and English, where Lagos narrowly ranked first with 30,203, Kano followed closely with 28,308,” he said.