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Claim: An X user, Sarah Ibrahim (@TheSerahIbrahim), posted an image containing some figures to claim it is the cut-off mark for entrance into all Unity Schools in the 36 states and the FCT.
Verdict: Misleading. Neither the National Examinations Council (NECO) nor the Federal Ministry of Education has released any cut-off marks for the 2025 National Common Entrance Examinations into Unity schools in the 36 states and the FCT. The entrance examination into the Unity schools has yet to be held.
Full Text
On May 16, 2025, Sarah Ibrahim (@TheSerahIbrahim) on X tweeted about the cut-off mark of the National Common Entrance Examination conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) into Federal Unity Schools. She wrote, “Then they shouldn’t give people a reason to. This is the cut-off mark for entrance to all Unity Schools in the 36 States and the FCT. Do with this info what you will.”
The shared image showed the cut-off marks of all the states and was further broken down by gender. Anambra state, with 139 marks, was shown as the state with the highest cut-off mark for males and females, followed by Imo with 138 and Enugu with 134. The states with the lowest cut-off marks were Yobe, with 2; Taraba, with 3; and Zamfara, with 4.
She was replying to a tweet by Emeka (@Emeneks) on May 15, 2025, tweeted, “Seems it is the new PR Gig, you don’t have to tribalise everything.”
As of May 26, 2025, the post had 677 comments and 3,000 retweets. The comments following the post showed that it was not a welcome development and were heavily criticised.
Ọ́chichi (@_Ekezie), who commented on Serah’s tweet, wrote, “Anambra 139, Imo 138 as first and second highest cutoff marks. Both States from the Southeast, and you expect less of them in real life? The joke is on you.”
Another user who commented on the tweet with the handle, Her Excellency (@DiohaRachael), wrote, “Taraba: male 3. Someone should pour me water.”
In the comments, another X User, Emye (@emye_cool), also wrote, “And those with the lowest are heading top positions in the country. What a reversed standard!”
We also found the claim on Chinonso David Udemba’s Facebook page with the caption, “This is the cut-off mark for entrance to all Unity Schools in the 36 States and FCT. Sokoto cut-off mark is 9. And tomorrow, they will lead the country. E shock me.”
As of May 26, 2025, his post had 28 comments, 10 reactions, 10 likes, and one share.
Given the nature of the claim, the virality of the comments, and how the information influences public discourse, there was an indication that it can undermine institutional credibility, which made DUBAWA need to verify it to prevent misinformation.
Verification
The National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) is an entrance exam written by Primary Six students in Nigeria for admission into the Junior Secondary School (JSS 1) of Federal Government Unity Colleges across the 36 states and the FCT.
It is conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) and aims to select the most promising candidates from each state.
We conducted a search on the image using Google Lens, and it showed that the image of the cut-off mark first appeared on Twitter (now X) five years ago, while news reports about it go as far back as 2013, as seen here.
The reports about the cut-off marks led the members of the House of Representatives to probe these cut-off marks. However, the House refused to order an immediate nullification of the marks; instead, it mandated its committee on education to meet with the ministry and the NECO to evaluate the marks.
In 2015, the then NECO Registrar, Abdulrashid Garba, explained that the cut-off marks for the NCEE into unity colleges vary from state to state because the schools are unity colleges, which means every part of the country needs to be carried along.
In 2017, the federal government pegged the cut-off mark of the examination at 126. In 2021, the Minister for Education, Adamu Adamu, noted that the admission criteria include 60 per cent strictly on merit, 30 per cent based on states’ representation in the Unity Colleges and the remaining 10 per cent to cover other sundry considerations. Those considerations include special needs candidates, gender, local community, biological children of teachers, PTA, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC), old students organisations, and others.
While releasing the 2023 results, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Andrew Adejo, said the admission criteria for selection of qualified candidates into Federal Unity Colleges remains the same as “60 per cent on Merit, 30 per cent on Equality of State and 10 per cent on Exigency.”
In 2024, the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, reiterated the same thing during the release of the NCEE results.
DUBAWA contacted the NECO’s Director of Information, Azeez Sani, who said the information is false as NECO has not released any cut-off mark for the NCEE.
Mr Sani also revealed that the 2025 examination, originally scheduled for May 31, 2025, has been shifted to June 14, 2025.
“It is fake. The examination is yet to be conducted. It will be held on June 14, 2025. After the examination, the Federal Ministry of Education determines the placement criteria, but whatever the cut-off mark will be, it is usually announced after the results have been released,” he said.
DUBAWA also reached out to the Director of Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Folashade Boriowo, who said that the image of the cut-off mark did not emanate from the Ministry or NECO, saying that it is fake news.
“There is nothing like that. I had to call the National Examination Council (NECO) to verify, and NECO said that the examinations have not even been conducted, that they have nothing to do with the image of the cut-off mark.”
She also noted that the results would be analysed after the examination had been written and graded.
Conclusion
The image showing the state-by-state breakdown of the National Common Entrance Examination cut-off mark is not current. The 2025 NCEE has yet to be written, and the Ministry of Education, not NECO, has not provided information about cut-off marks.
