By Felix Khanoba
The Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, has unveiled plans to strengthen collaboration with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in a move aimed at improving result authentication and accelerating the adoption of computer-based examinations across the country.
Wushishi disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the university on Tuesday, explaining that the renewed partnership would help protect the credibility of NECO certificates and ensure that only candidates with genuine results secure admission into NOUN.
He also congratulated the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, on his appointment, describing him as a seasoned administrator with proven academic integrity.
According to the NECO Registrar, the visit had three major objectives: to formally felicitate with the new Vice-Chancellor, to explore collaboration on result authentication through NECO’s e-Verify platform, and to identify areas of cooperation in computer-based testing (CBT).
Wushishi recalled that the Council previously relied on a manual result verification system, a process that often took months to conclude for institutions spread across more than 50 countries.
He noted that the introduction of the NECO e-Verify system two years ago has significantly improved efficiency, 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,” Wushishi said, urging NOUN to key into the platform.
He further pointed to NOUN’s widespread CBT infrastructure across the country, stressing that NECO is aligning with the policy direction of the Federal Ministry of Education to fully transition from paper-based examinations to computer-based testing.
In his response, the Vice-Chancellor welcomed the initiative and assured NECO of the university’s preparedness 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 revealed that the university would commence integration with the NECO e-Verify platform starting from the 2026/1 admission cycle.
He also reaffirmed NOUN’s readiness to support NECO’s CBT expansion, noting that the institution operates about 128 study centres nationwide.
To accelerate implementation, the Vice-Chancellor announced the establishment of a joint committee made up of key academic and ICT officials to interface with NECO.
Both institutions expressed optimism that the collaboration would reinforce examination credibility and further enhance the quality of Nigeria’s education system.
