Bad Debt: NECO Withholds Kano Results

Kano Owes N600m Debt— NECO Source

EXPECTATIONS of over 70,000 candidates, who wrote 2017 June/july National Examination Council (NECO), to gain admission into higher institutions remain uncertain, as the examination body refused to release their results.

NECO, on Wednesday, released the 2017 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) result, saying 745,053 out of the 1,051,472 candidates that sat for the exams scored five credits and above, including Mathematics and English. The figures, according to NECO, represent 70, 85 percent.

However, since the release and subsequent reopening of NECO portal to enable candidates check their performance, candidates in Kano, especially those enrolled by the state government have been denied access. Theguardian checks at vari- ous computer centres at Sabo gari area and Zoo Road, showed hundreds of frustrated candidates lamenting their inability to know their fate. Meanwhile, private school candidates who sat for the same examination were not having similar difficulty. An anonymous source in Kano NECO office told The Guardian that NECO would not unnecessarily hold onto results, unless candidates are indebted.

He revealed that the development might not be unconnected to a backlog of over N600m debt Kano State government owes NECO.

Confirming the development, Director of press to Kano State Deputy Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, who is also the Commissioner for Education, Mal. Usman Bello, told our correspondent that he could not ascertain the truth of the payment, just as he demanded time to confirm.