NECO, NOUN deepen collaboration on result verification, CBT expansion
By Uji A. Iliyasu, Abuja
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has announced plans to strengthen its partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to enhance the verification of candidates’ results and promote nationwide adoption of computer-based examinations.
NECO Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the university on Tuesday, where he congratulated the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, on his appointment and described him as an experienced administrator with strong academic credentials.
Wushishi said the collaboration is designed to protect the integrity of NECO certificates and ensure that only candidates with genuine results are admitted into NOUN.
Prof. Sushi shi said the visit had three major objectives: to formally felicitate with the new vice chancellor, to explore the authentication of results through NECO’s e-Verify platform, and to examine areas of cooperation in computer-based testing (CBT).
He recalled that result verification was previously done manually, a process that often took several months to complete for institutions in over 50 countries.
The registrar, however, noted that the introduction of the e-Verify system two years ago has revolutionised the exercise, with close to five million results already verified electronically.
“With the API integration, institutions can seamlessly confirm the authenticity of candidates’ NECO results without delay,” he said, urging NOUN to adopt the platform.
Wushishi also pointed to NOUN’s extensive CBT infrastructure across the country, noting that NECO is aligning with the Federal Ministry of Education’s policy to fully migrate from paper-based to computer-based examinations.
In his response, Prof. Uduma, welcomed the initiative and assured NECO of the university’s readiness to collaborate in areas that would strengthen academic standards.
He described result verification as critical to the credibility of certificates, stressing that the university admits about 40,000 students annually and must ensure that all candidates present authentic credentials.
“Any certificate that is not verified is a paper tiger,” he said.
Uduma disclosed that NOUN would commence integration with the NECO e-Verify platform from the 2026/1 admission cycle.
He also expressed the university’s willingness to support NECO’s CBT expansion, citing its network of about 128 study centres nationwide.
To facilitate swift implementation, the vice chancellor announced the constitution of a joint committee made up of key academic and ICT officials from both institutions.
Both organisations expressed optimism that the partnership would boost the credibility of examinations and improve the overall quality of Nigeria’s education system.