Bisola David
The Federal Government has urged higher education institution leaders to use the NECO e-Verify portal to verify the results of candidates who sat for the National Examinations Council Senior School Certificate Examination.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, David Andrew Adejo, stated this during the unveiling of the NECO e-Verify platform on Thursday in Abuja.
Adejo, who expressed excitement that NECO is aligning its operations with worldwide best practices, stated that the platform would help fish out fraudulent results, particularly during the admission process.
“Because tertiary institutions must verify and confirm the results of candidates to be admitted into their schools, the need for result recertification becomes very necessary,” he explained.
“All Vice Chancellors of Universities, Rectors of Polytechnics, Provosts of Colleges of Education, and Heads of Other Tertiary Institutions, including Innovation Enterprises Institutions, are thus mandated to use NECO e-Verify software to verify all candidates who will be admitted who sat in neco exam.”
The Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, stated that “NECO e-Verify” is an Online Result Verification solution that guarantees instant authentication of academic and basic information about prospective candidates for admission and employment into academic institutions and workplaces, respectively.”
“Due to the growing need for result verification and confirmation by institutions both at home and abroad, the Council determined that now was the best time to launch the e-Verify platform.”
“Based on the records we have at our disposal, we have observed requests for verification and confirmation of results from 64 institutions in 37 countries over a two-year period (2020-2022).”
“Similarly, we have such requests from seventy-two institutions in Nigeria during the same period, in addition to numerous requests from individuals.”
The NECO CEO stated that it is an undeniable reality that academic institutions and labour agencies, among others, rely on results verification to assist them select the best potential students for admission and employment.”
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Akon Eyakenyi, praised Professor Wushishi for bringing the exam body up to date with modern times.
“NECO must also seek to ensure full automation of all examination administration processes,” said the interim chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education in the 9th Senate, Eyakenyi.
