FG Defends Nigeria’s Certificates Over Foreign Concerns

The federal government has said it is taking steps to strengthen the verification of Nigerian academic qualifications amid concerns raised by foreign authorities over the authenticity of certificates and work references submitted by Nigerians.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad stated this in Abuja yesterday while responding to questions on the decision affecting Nigeria and Ghana under the United Kingdom’s Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) system.

The minister said the government had automated its certificate verification system to enable foreign institutions and other stakeholders to authenticate Nigerian qualifications electronically.

“In terms of the banning of Nigeria and Ghana, I would love to say that UK is yet to officially notify Nigeria with regard to that ban. We had it over the media and we also heard it over the media,” she said.

The minister, however, stated the government had taken measures to make the verification of Nigerian certificates easier and more transparent.

“Notwithstanding, we have right now automated the department for ease of reference. In case anybody wants to verify the qualification of any person, Nigeria is digitised now.

“You can go online and be able to verify, so that you can ensure that this is really a certificate that the person is claiming, belongs to him, and also belongs to an accredited institution,” she added.

According to her, the move is also aimed at addressing the activities of individuals who present questionable or fraudulent qualifications, noting that such practices could have consequences for Nigerians with genuine certificates.

“There are some of these issues that are leading to certification by other countries because of a few individuals who are claiming bogus certification, and that will affect those that have authentic certification,” Ahmad said.

She added that the government had already put measures in place to facilitate the verification of Nigerian qualifications by other countries.

“As a country, we have already taken that measure to ensure that it is easy for other countries to verify the source of certificates in Nigeria,” she said.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that the UK Department for Education, on September 9, 2026, removed Nigeria and Ghana from its Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) application route following concerns over the verification of work references submitted by applicants from the two countries.

The UK government said more than 70 per cent of applications from Nigeria and Ghana used personal email addresses, including Gmail and Hotmail, for work references, raising concerns over the reliability of the verification process.