Akwa Ibom State has recorded one of its poorest performances in the National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examination, ranking 36th among Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with only 37.42 per cent of candidates obtaining at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
The 2026 NECO state-by-state data obtained by our correspondent show that 7,754 of the 20,720 Akwa Ibom candidates who sat the examination met the benchmark.
Only Sokoto State, with 26.82 per cent, performed worse than Akwa Ibom.
The result marks a steep deterioration from the state’s performance in previous years. In 2025, Akwa Ibom ranked 12th nationally, with 13,090 of 19,513 candidates meeting the same five-credit benchmark, representing 67.08 per cent.
In 2024, the state recorded 67.32 per cent, placing it 18th nationally, according to NECO’s official annual report. This implies that the 2026 result is a decline of almost 30 percentage points from the state’s 2025 performance.
The state’s 2026 performance also places it as the only Southern Nigerian state among the bottom 10 states.
The nearest Southern states to Akwa Ibom were Rivers, which ranked 22nd with 56.38 per cent, and Enugu, which ranked 25th with 54.52 per cent.
According to analysis of the NECO data shows that Akwa Ibom was also the lowest-performing state in the South-south region, considerably behind its neighbours.
The 2026 results present a pronounced regional divide.
Abia State retained the top position nationally for the second consecutive year, with 81.78 per cent of its candidates meeting the five-credit benchmark.
Ebonyi followed with 81.03 per cent, while Delta State ranked fourth nationally with 75.17 per cent. Imo ranked eighth with 74.10 per cent, while Bayelsa came ninth with 73.92 per cent.
This means that five states from the South-east and South-south featured among the national top nine.
Other South-south and South-east states also performed substantially better than Akwa Ibom. Edo ranked 11th with 71.18 per cent, Anambra 12th with 69.70 per cent and Cross River 18th with 62.18 per cent.
Abia’s performance is particularly notable because the state has maintained the first position in the NECO state ranking since 2024. In 2024, Abia recorded 83.40 per cent, while Akwa Ibom recorded 67.32 per cent.