ABUJA, Nigeria A total of 58,187 candidates participated in the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination on Saturday, June 6, 2026, for admission into Federal Government Colleges.
Okay News reports that Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi disclosed the registration figures during a press briefing following an inspection tour. The National Examinations Council Registrar said the number represents a decline from the 64,578 candidates who registered for the examination in 2025.
Female candidates accounted for the majority of the registrations, with more than 31,000 females registered compared to approximately 26,000 male candidates. “I think this reflects the efforts of the ministry in promoting girl-child education and shows that positive results are being achieved in that regard,” Wushishi said.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, accompanied Wushishi on inspection visits to three examination centres, including Model Secondary School, Maitama, Government Science Technical College, Garki, and Federal Government Boys’ College, Garki. “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,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad noted concern over absentee candidates after recording 18 absent students in one of the visited halls. Lagos recorded the highest number of candidates with 13,228 registrations, while Taraba recorded the lowest number with 15 candidates.
