States Owe NECO N5.5bn, Exam Body Releases 2023 SSCE Results after Delays

•737,308 candidates score five credits in maths, English

Laleye Dipo in Minna and Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The National Examination Council (NECO) has disclosed that some states in the country are indebted to the organisation to the tune of N5.5 billion.

Also, after intense delay, NECO yesterday,released the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), 58 days after the final examination was written on August 11.

The debt was incurred between 2012 and 2023 as a result of the states taking responsibility for the registration of their indigines for the Senior School Certificate Examination (Internal).

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Prof. Danlami Wushishi declined to name the states owing the organisation, but pleaded with them to expedite action in settling the debt.

He, however, declared that the Council would not release the results of   candidates of debtor states until such a time that the debts are liquidated.

“It is the money we use for the running of the council they should please pay up, we will not release the results of candidates from these states,” he said.

Commenting on the poor performance of candidates from some states, Wushishi said it was a call on the states to “look inwards to review their education sector and look also at all sectors of the education.”

According to the Registrar, Abia state topped the 36 states and Abuja on the performance chart followed by Adamawa Akwa Ibom and Adamawa states.

The  Council yesterday, released the results of the Senior Secondary School Examination it conducted between July and August this year with 737,308 candidates representing 61.60 per cent recording credits   and above in five subjects.

A total of 1,296,985 candidates with  616,398 males and  580,587 females sat for the examination.

 Wushishi who announced the results at the organisations’ headquarters in Minna Niger state disclosed that 1,013,611 candidates recorded credit and above passes irrespective of English and Mathematics with 1543 of them being Special Needs candidates.

Wushishi further disclosed that 12, 030 candidates were involved in various forms of malpractices as against 13,594 cases recorded in the 2022 examination.

The Registrar further stated that in line with the resolve of the Council to identify and sanction erring schools and Supervisors, 93 schools were found to have been involved in ” Whole School (mass) cheating” stressing that: ” They will be invited to the Council for discussion after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.”

Also, according to Wushishi, 52 Supervisors were recommended for blacklisting due to, ” poor supervision, aiding and abetting during the examination.

“By this release candidates can now access their results on NECO website” the Registrar declared

The delay in releasing the results,  also delayed the conclusion of admission into universities this year.

NECO, which concluded the conduct of the examination in early August 2023, had slated to release the result within 45 days but the promise did not materialise.

 Information later filtered in that the results would be made public either on September 26th or 30th, but the two dates came and passed without any show.

Later, there was another release date of October 5, 2023, which did not also yield any result until the official confirmation yesterday by 11am today.

On candidates with special needs, he said a total of 1,542 candidates sat for the examination, out of which 913 candidates had hearing impairment and 162 candidates had visual impairment.

Other candidates include: 103 candidates with Albinism, 61 candidates with Autism, 149 candidates with low vision, 154 candidates with Adermatoglyphia, among others.

“It gladdens my heart to notify you that reports we have received so far indicate that the 2023 SSCE Internal has been certified the best in recent times.  We are very thankful to God for this and to all those that made it possible.

“Number of candidates registered for the examination is 1,205,888, representing 621,084 males and 584,804 Females.

“Number of candidates that sat is 1,196,985, representing 616,398 Males and 580,587 females. Number of candidates with five Credits and above, including English and Mathematics is 737,308, representing 61.60 per cent.

“Number of candidates with five Credits and above, irrespective of English and Mathematics is 1,013,611, representing 84.68 per cent.

“Number of candidates with special needs is 1,542, with the breakdown as follows: 913 candidates with hearing impairment 162 candidates with visual impairment 103 candidates with Albinism, 61 candidates with Autism, 149 candidates with low vision

154 candidates with Adermatoglyphia, i.e. candidates with no fingerprints

“Number of candidates involved in various forms of malpractice in 2023 is 12,030 (0.07%) as against 13,594 (0.13%) in 2022 representing 61.60%,” he said.

Wushishi also noted that 93 schools were found to have been involved in mass cheating and “will be invited to the Council for discussion, after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.

 “Similarly, fifty two (52) Supervisors were recommended for blacklisting due to poor Supervision, Aiding and Abetting during the examination,” he said.

He also announced that Abia State had the highest number of candidates with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English with 85.53 per cent, adding that Adamawa State came second with 51.5 per cent, while Kebbi State came last with a performance of 0.310 per cent.