The National Examinations Council (NECO) has announced that a total of 70,603 candidates participated in the 2024 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), which was conducted on Saturday. According to the NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, the examination was held in 599 centers across the country.
Breaking down the participation by gender, Prof. Wushishi revealed that 33,335 males and 37,268 females registered for the examination. However, he noted that the 2024 registration was lower than the previous year’s, with 34,064 males and 38,801 females totaling 72,865 candidates in 2023.
Lagos State led the pack with the highest number of candidates, with 17,751 registrations, followed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 10,209 candidates, and Anambra State with 4,972 candidates. On the other hand, Bayelsa, Borno, and Gombe States had the lowest number of candidates, with 133, 138, and 174 registrations, respectively.
Prof. Wushishi attributed the decline in registration to economic factors, stating that “economic factors are the most prevalent factor that could hinder this large registration.”