The Federal government has issued a directive to the heads of tertiary education institutions, instructing them to utilize the NECO e-Verify platform for verifying the results of candidates seeking admission.
This platform is designed to authenticate the results of candidates who have taken the National Examinations Council Senior School Certificate Examination.
During the unveiling of the NECO e-Verify platform in Abuja, David Andrew Adejo, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, expressed satisfaction that NECO is aligning its activities with global best practices.
He emphasized that the platform would play a crucial role in detecting fake results, particularly during the admission process.
Adejo stated, “Because tertiary institutions need to verify and confirm the results of candidates being admitted, the recertification of results becomes necessary. Therefore, all Vice Chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics, provosts of colleges of education, and heads of other tertiary institutions, including Innovation Enterprises Institutions, are mandated to utilize the NECO e-Verify software to verify the results of all candidates who sat for the NECO exam and will be admitted.”
Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, the Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, explained that “NECO e-Verify” is an online result verification solution that ensures immediate authentication of academic and basic information about prospective candidates for admission and employment in academic institutions and workplaces.
The platform aims to meet the increasing demand for result verification by Nigerians both within the country and abroad.
Before the introduction of the e-Verify platform, requests for result verification and confirmation were processed through the Council’s Headquarters in Minna, which often resulted in longer processing times.
However, with the growing need for verification and confirmation of results by institutions domestically and internationally, NECO decided to introduce the e-Verify platform.
Professor Wushishi noted that over two years (2020-2022), there were requests for result verification and confirmation from 64 institutions in 37 countries, as well as numerous requests from 72 institutions in Nigeria.
Academic institutions, employers, and other agencies rely on result verification to select the most qualified candidates for admission and employment purposes.
The Deputy Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Akon Eyakenyi, who chaired the event, commended Professor Wushishi for modernizing the examination body.
She highlighted the benefits of the NECO e-Verify platform, not only in simplifying the process for candidates but also in generating revenue for NECO.
Eyakenyi encouraged NECO to continue working towards the full automation of all examination administration processes.