This study investigated the influence of teachers’ characteristic on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Mathematics in three geo-political zones of Nigeria. The study examined the influence of teachers’ qualification, experience and gender on the academic performance of students in Mathematics. It also examined the difference in the academic performance of students in Mathematics based on their geo-political zone. The research design adopted in the study was a descriptive design of the survey type was adopted in this study. The sample consisted of 562 S.S.S. 2 students (class intact size) drawn from eighteen public secondary schools in three geo-political zones of Nigeria namely South-East, North Central and South-West. Achievement Test in Mathematics (ATM) and inventory on teachers’ characteristics were used to collect data. The data collected in this study were subjected to Analysis of Covariance, Analysis of Variance and Scheffe Post-hoc analysis at α = 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that teacher characteristics such as their qualification, teaching experience and gender did not influence students’ performance in Mathematics. It was also revealed that there was difference in students’ performance in Mathematics based on their geo-political areas as students from South East geo-political performed significantly better than their counterparts in the South West and North Central. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers irrespective of their characteristics can make use of suitable strategy in teaching Mathematics.

Key words: Teachers’ characteristics, Academic performance, Senior Secondary Schools, and Mathematics,