BREAKING: Kogi votes N542m for UTME, Common Entrance, BECE forms

Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo has approved over N542m for the payment of 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and other internal examination fees for public school students in the state.

This announcement was made by the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Wemi Jones, during a press conference on Tuesday in Lokoja.

Jones explained that the funds would cover registration fees for various exams, including the 2025 Basic Six and Common Entrance Examination, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), and UTME/JAMB for public school students.

He said, “The fund would cover registration fees for 2025 Basic Six and Common Entrance Examination, Basic Education Certificate Examination and UMTE/JAMB of students in public schools.”

He further broke down the total funds as follows: “N145,476,984 would cover 25,100 pupils for basic six and CCE; N215,220,000 for 30,500 students under BECE and N181,719,800 for 18,734 students under the UMTE/JAMB fees, totalling N542,416,784.”

Jones highlighted that the initiative was in line with a law signed by former Governor Yahaya Bello, which mandates free examination registration fees for Kogi students in public primary and secondary schools. He noted, “Ododo, being an offshoot of the immediate-past administration, continued to consolidate on the foundation already laid in the education sector.”

The commissioner also mentioned that the state government had recently released over N661.3m for the 2024/2025 West African Examinations Council fees for Senior Secondary 3 students in public schools. He emphasized that the government had committed a total sum of over N1.2bn for both external and internal examinations for the 2024/2025 academic session.

Jones also reported that the fee payments for 2024 led to an 18 percent increase in student enrolment, helping to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the state.

He said, “The effort had helped in reducing the out-of-school children in the state.”

In conclusion, Jones urged principals and school heads to cooperate with the Ministry of Education to ensure a smooth registration process for the benefit of the students and the growth of the state.