Kwara State has won the 2026 Presidential Schools Debate Championship for a fifth consecutive time, defeating Lagos State 5-1 in the final in Abuja.

The 66th edition of the national competition, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education, brought together pupils from public primary schools across Nigeria to test their debating skills, research and public speaking.

The winning Kwara team comprised four pupils from different parts of the state: Halimoh Abdulazeez from Ilorin West, Khadija Kazeem from Offa, Omolola Ibrahim from Moro and Samaila Daniel from Ilorin East.

The pupils received a trophy and a cash prize of ₦500,000, presented by the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Dr Aisha Garba, who praised Kwara State's commitment to the competition and its remarkable record of success.

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq congratulated the four pupils in a statement shared on his Facebook page on Saturday 7 November, expressing delight at their performance and at the state's fifth straight title.

The Presidential Schools Debate is a national academic competition designed to promote a reading culture, critical thinking, research skills and public speaking among pupils. Kwara's latest victory extends a run of dominance in the contest that has made the state the team to beat in recent years.

Lagos, beaten finalists on this occasion, had reached the final as one of the strongest teams in the competition, but Kwara's 5-1 margin underlined the scale of the champions' superiority on the day.

[Source: pethsnews.com](https://pethsnews.com/kwara-wins-presidential-schools-debate-for-fifth-consecutive-time-defeats-lagos-5-1/) | [Source: thecabal.ng](https://thecabal.ng/kwara-wins-2026-presidential-schools-debate-for-fifth-consecutive-year/)