The 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 courtesy visit to the university, 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.
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He congratulated the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, on his appointment, describing him as a seasoned administrator with proven academic integrity.
Wushishi noted that 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 Registrar recalled that the Council previously handled result verification manually, often taking months to process requests from institutions across more than 50 countries.
He explained that the introduction of the NECO 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 CBT infrastructure nationwide, noting that NECO is aligning with the policy direction of the Federal Ministry of Education to migrate fully from paper-based to computer-based examinations.
Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, 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,” he said, adding that NOUN admits about 40,000 students annually and is committed to ensuring that all admitted candidates present authentic credentials.
Uduma disclosed that the university would begin integration with the NECO e-Verify platform from the 2026/1 admission cycle.
He also affirmed NOUN’s willingness to support NECO’s CBT expansion, citing the university’s network of about 128 study centres across 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.
Both institutions expressed optimism that the partnership would strengthen examination credibility and advance the quality of Nigeria’s education system.
