Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Early report released by the Federal Ministry of Education has confirmed that Lagos with 24,465 applications is at the top of registration table for the 2018 entrance exam for admission of candidates into the 104 Federal Government Colleges.
The report also indicated that Lagos state was followed closely by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 7,699 and Rivers state with 4,810 candidates.
It also confirmed that Taraba State with 95 candidates; Kebbi 50; and Zamfara State with 28 candidates, were the three states with extreme low registration.
Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, in a statement, expressed worry over the “low interest” for the 2018 exercise.
He said that as at March 03, 2018, the National Examination Council (NECO), recorded 71, 294 applications as against 80, 421 applications received in 2017.
The Minister thus directed that registration portal provided by NECO, remain open till April 13, 2018, to enable more eligible and interested candidates register.
This, he said, was necessary to boost Federal Government’s drive to guarantee access and equity in education development in Nigeria.
Adamu also insisted that the exam will hold on April 14, as earlier planned.
He thus enjoined states government, parents, schools, interest groups and states with low registration to improve their participation.