By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

The National Examinations Council ,NECO, and the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, on Tuesday signalled a major shift in the fight against certificate fraud and examination inefficiencies, as both institutions moved to seal a strategic partnership on electronic result verification and expansion of Computer-Based Testing,CBT, nationwide.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN in Abuja, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NECO ,Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, said the visit was driven by the urgent need to strengthen collaboration in safeguarding the integrity of academic credentials and deepening technology-driven assessment systems in line with federal policy.

Congratulating the Vice-Chancellor,Prof. Uduma Uduma, on his recent appointment, the NECO boss described his emergence as well-deserved, citing his longstanding contributions to academia and to NOUN in particular.

“It came to us not as a surprise. A lot is expected from you, given your academic antecedents. We are here to congratulate you and to express our confidence that you will surpass the expectations of staff, students and Nigerians at large,”he said.

He noted the similarities between both institutions, describing NECO and NOUN as national bodies that serve “all colours and families” across the country.

According to him, the shared national spread makes collaboration not only desirable but inevitable.

Central to the discussions was NECO’s electronic verification platform, NECO E-Verify, developed to eliminate delays and curb certificate forgery.

The NECO chief recalled that when he assumed office in 2002, the council was inundated with over 400 manual verification requests from more than 50 countries, with processing times stretching between two to three months.

“We could not continue that way. Candidates and institutions abroad were waiting endlessly for feedback. So we developed a seamless software solution that allows verification at the click of a button,”he said.

Launched two years ago, the E-Verify platform has, according to him, authenticated close to five million results, enabling institutions to confirm candidates’ credentials from the comfort of their offices.

He expressed concern that the volume of NECO result verification requests from NOUN since 2008 had been low, despite the university’s massive admission capacity.

With NOUN admitting more students than any other university in Africa, he said integrating NECO’s Application Programming Interface (API) into the university’s admission portal would ensure that only authentic results are accepted,without candidates even knowing the verification is taking place.

“Once the candidate inputs NECO results, the system will automatically ‘handshake’ with our portal and fetch the authentic record. This is critical in eliminating fake results,”he explained.

Beyond verification, the NECO boss also sought partnership in the expansion of CBT infrastructure, noting that the Federal Ministry of Education is driving a policy transition from paper-based to computer-based examinations nationwide.

He commended NOUN for pioneering computer-based examinations and for its extensive national footprint, with CBT centres across virtually all local government areas.

“With your capacity and spread, it is important that we collaborate to deliver examination services through your CBT centres,” he said, formally requesting the Vice-Chancellor to constitute a joint committee to fine-tune areas of engagement.

Responding, the Vice-Chancellor described the NECO delegation as the most formidable since he assumed office, praising the seriousness attached to the visit.

“This of NECO appears to be the most superlative. You came with a team that wants to swallow the whole team. It shows the seriousness of purpose,”he remarked.

On certificate verification, the Vice-Chancellor did not mince words, warning that any unverified credential is worthless.

“Any certificate that is not verified is a paper tiger. It has no integrity. In those days, we talked about Oluwole. Today, every room is an Oluwole in Nigeria. That is the reality,”he remarked.

He assured NECO that NOUN would immediately key into the E-Verify platform beginning with the 2026 admission cycle, disclosing that the university admits about 40,000 students annually.

“We are interested in the integrity of our certificates. From this 2026-1 admission session, we will key into NECO E-Verify,” he pledged.

The Vice-Chancellor also welcomed the proposed CBT collaboration, highlighting NOUN’s 128 study centres nationwide and its robust ICT infrastructure, much of which remains underutilised after university examinations.

“With our CBT infrastructure idling after exams, you are helping us to put it into use,” he said, aligning the partnership with the federal government’s push for full migration to computer-based assessments.

He immediately announced the constitution of a high-powered committee to drive the collaboration, to be led by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Technology & Learning), Director of ICT, Director of Software Development, Director of Academic Planning, and the Director of Academic Registry serving as members.

“That is the way I work,” he declared.

“What we are saying is what we desire. There is no need to speak too much grammar. Let us particularise it.”

With both institutions pledging swift action, the emerging alliance is expected to significantly strengthen certificate integrity, curb examination malpractice, and accelerate Nigeria’s transition to technology-driven assessment systems , a move observers say could redefine standards in the nation’s education sector.