By Omoyeni Ojeifo
According to Wushishi, 58,187 candidates sat for this year’s examination, lower than the 64,578 candidates recorded in 2025.
He said girls accounted for the larger share of registrations, with more than 31,000 female candidates compared to about 26,000 male candidates.
“I think this reflects the efforts of the ministry in promoting gir-child education and shows that positive results are being achieved in that regard,” he said.
Wushishi noted that reports received from centres across the country indicated that the examination was largely conducted properly.
According to him, Lagos recorded the highest number of candidates with 13,228 registrations, while Taraba had the least with 15 candidates.
Speaking after inspecting centres in Abuja, Ahmad expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examination.
“We have been to three schools and I am happy with the conduct of the examination in all the centres visited. The students are orderly, well seated and the examination started on time.
“I have also looked at the registration documents of the students and observed that the guidelines regarding the prescribed age bracket for the examination were adhered to,” she said.
The minister, however, expressed concern over absentee candidates in some centres after 18 candidates were absent in one of the halls visited and stressed the need to ascertain the reasons for their absence.
Ahmad also commended the facilities at the centres inspected, noting that they were adequate for the conduct of the examination.
She reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening infrastructure to support effective teaching and learning.
Persecondnews reports that the monitoring team visited Model Secondary School, Maitama; Government Science Technical College, Garki; and Federal Government Boys’ College, Garki, during the exercise.