NOUN To Adopt NECO’s e-Verify Platform From 2026 Admission Cycle

Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, has announced plans to deepen collaboration with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to enhance the verification of candidates’ results and promote computer-based examinations nationwide.

Speaking during a visit to the university yesterday, Wushishi said the partnership is aimed at safeguarding the integrity of NECO certificates and ensuring that only candidates with authentic results gain admission into NOUN.

He congratulated the vice-chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, on his appointment, describing him as a seasoned administrator with proven academic integrity.

Wushishi said the visit was driven by three key objectives: to formally felicitate with the new VC, to explore collaboration on result authentication through NECO’s e-Verify platform and to examine areas of cooperation in computer-based testing (CBT).

While providing further details, the NECO boss recalled that the organisation previously handled result verification manually, often taking months to process requests from institutions in more than 50 countries.

He explained that the introduction of the e-Verify system two years ago has transformed the process, with nearly five million results verified electronically.

“With the API integration, institutions can seamlessly confirm the authenticity of candidates’ NECO results without delay,” Wushishi said, urging NOUN to key into the platform.

He also highlighted the university’s extensive nationwide CBT infrastructure, noting that NECO is aligning with the Federal Ministry of Education’s policy to fully migrate from paper-based to computer-based examinations.

Responding, Prof. Uduma welcomed the initiative and assured NECO of the university’s readiness to collaborate.

He stressed that result verification is critical to maintaining academic integrity. “Any certificate that is not verified is a paper tiger.”

Uduma disclosed that the university would begin integration with the NECO e-Verify platform from the 2026 admission cycle.

He also affirmed NOUN’s willingness to support NECO’s CBT expansion, citing the university’s network of about 128 study centres in the country.

To fast-track implementation, the vice-chancellor announced the constitution of a joint committee comprising key academic and ICT officials to interface with NECO.