The National Examinations Council has launched investigations into mass cheating involving 38 schools across 13 states during the conduct of the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE internal).
Registrar of the council, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, disclosed this in Minna, Niger State, on Wednesday while releasing the 2025 results.
He said the affected schools will be summoned to the council for discussions before appropriate sanctions are applied.
According to him, the mass cheating cases form part of a wider 3,878 instances of malpractice recorded in this year’s examination.
He, however, noted that cases of malpractices reduced this year, compared to last with 10,094 cases in 2024.
He said, “During the conduct of the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination, 38 schools were found to have been involved in whole school (mass) cheating in 13 states. They will be invited to the Council for discussion, after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.
“Similarly, nine supervisors: three in Rivers, one in Niger, three in the FCT, one in Kano and one in Osun State were recommended for blacklisting due to poor supervision, aiding and abetting, lateness, unruly behavior, assault, and insubordination.”
He particularly called attention “to a case in Lamorde Local Government, Adamawa State involving eight schools which were affected by a communal clash resulting in the disruption of our examinations from 7th to 25th July, 2025. A total of thirteen subjects and 29 papers were involved.
“We have since commenced talks with the State Government with a view to conducting the examinations for the affected schools.”
“The Council is determined to safeguard the integrity of its examinations. We will not hesitate to sanction any school or official found culpable in malpractice or negligence,” he warned.
Despite the malpractice concerns, Wushishi presented a largely positive performance outcome. Out of the 1,367,210 candidates who registered for the examination — comprising 685,514 males and 681,696 females — a total of 1,358,339 eventually sat for the exams, representing 680,292 males and 678,047 females.
Of this number, 818,492 candidates, representing 60.26 per cent, obtained five credits and above, including Mathematics and English. A larger pool of 1,144,496 candidates, representing 84.26 per cent, secured five credits and above irrespective of the two core subjects.
He further disclosed that the number of candidates with special needs stood at 1,622. This included 941 with hearing impairment (586 males and 355 females) and 191 with visual impairment (111 males and 80 females).
In the state-by-state performance breakdown, Kano State led with 68,159 candidates (5.02 per cent) scoring five credits and above, including English and Mathematics. Lagos followed closely with 67,007 (4.93 per cent), while Oyo came third with 48,742.
On the other end of the spectrum, Gabon, one of the foreign centres, recorded no candidate with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English.
Looking ahead, the NECO boss revealed that the council would now conduct the SSCE on only 38 subjects, in line with the reviewed national curriculum.
He explained that this would shorten the examination process and reduce the waiting time for the release of results.
Fielding questions from journalists, Wushishi stressed that the council remained committed to strict supervision and transparency in order to avoid the fate of other sister examination bodies that have faced integrity crises.
“The reduction in malpractice cases this year is a testament to the seriousness with which we approached the conduct of the examination. We will continue to strengthen monitoring and oversight mechanisms,” he assured.
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