<P> The National Examinations Council (also known as NECO) is an examination body in Nigeria that conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education in June / July and December / January respectively . </P> <P> NECO was created by former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar in April 1999 . It was the first Federal organization to offer subsidized registration to academic candidates in Nigeria . </P> <P> NECO was mandated to take over the responsibilities of the National Board of Education Measurement (NBEM). Its maiden examination took place in mid-2000 . </P> <P> It is headed by a Registrar, Charles Uwakwe, appointed by the President under section 9 (1) of its establishing Act . It has six departments, each headed by a director . Each Department has divisions, composed of units . A team of directors and a registrar are the governing body, which is headed by chair Paddy Njoku . </P>

When was the first year neco examination took place