From Dan Amasingha, Minna

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has honoured eight outstanding candidates who emerged as the best-performing male and female students across its major examinations in 2025.

The council also recognised 90 serving staff and five retired directors and acting directors for exceptional performance, dedication and productivity in the discharge of their responsibilities.

The awards, which included certificates of recognition and cash prizes, were presented to the beneficiaries as part of efforts by the examination body to promote academic excellence, hard work and positive competition.

The eight students were drawn from the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), National Gifted Examination, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

In the NCEE category, Alocha Naeto, a male candidate from Anambra State domiciled in Lagos, emerged as the best-performing candidate, while Adenuga Monsurat Feyisara from Ogun State, also domiciled in Lagos, was adjudged the best female candidate.

For the National Gifted Examination, Ezeudu Samuel Akachukwu from Anambra State emerged the best male candidate, while Ubochi Akunnaya Nancy from Imo State emerged the overall best female candidate.

In the BECE category, Micheal Daniella Chiamaka of Chrisland High School, Lagos, emerged the best female candidate, while Salihu Amir Umar of Kedwel International School, Barnawa, Kaduna, was adjudged the best male candidate.

The SSCE category witnessed a clean sweep by two candidates from a private school in Kaduna State, with Akai Bernice Kuyat emerging the best female candidate and Eke Felix Emenike taking the award for the best male candidate.

Speaking at the award ceremony, the Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, said the initiative was designed to celebrate excellence, reward hard work and encourage healthy competition among candidates and staff.

Wushishi also commended NECO staff for their resilience and commitment to conducting examinations despite security and other operational challenges across the country.

He said, “Boko Haram can’t stop our examination. Bandits, kidnappers or sit-at-home has not stopped us from discharging our responsibility.

“That is why I often refer to our staff as NECO soldiers. From my experience as a former military personnel, what our staff do is pure gallantry.”

The NECO boss explained that the recognition of workers across different cadres, including drivers, cleaners and storekeepers, was deliberate, stressing that every category of staff contributes to the effective functioning of the council.

According to him, recognising dedicated workers was intended to motivate them to sustain and improve their level of performance.

In all, 90 serving staff and five retired directors and acting directors received certificates of service and productivity awards, alongside undisclosed cash rewards.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reviewed its policy on swapping candidates’ registered GSM numbers and changing registered email addresses, allowing candidates who have genuinely lost access to their SIM cards or email accounts to update their details through a controlled process.

The new arrangement, which takes effect from Monday, is designed to assist candidates who have lost access to their registered GSM numbers, particularly those unable to use the numbers for registration for subsequent Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), as well as those whose registered email accounts can no longer be recovered.

The Acting Director, Public Affairs and Protocols, JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, announced this in a statement on Monday.

The Board had previously restricted SIM swapping and email changes as part of measures to protect candidates’ records from fraud and other security vulnerabilities associated with such alterations.

Benjamin, however, said in the statement that the policy was reviewed following the introduction of enhanced security measures, particularly stronger identity and biometric verification processes.

Under the revised arrangement, candidates can request a GSM number swap, email address change, or both, subject to strict authentication procedures.

According to the Board, the concession is intended to reduce the hardship faced by candidates who lose access to their registered credentials and make the processes leading to tertiary education admission more seamless.

JAMB, however, warned that the service would be available only once to each candidate and would be subject to stringent verification designed to prevent impersonation, fraud and unauthorised alteration of candidates’ records.

Part of the statement read: “The service will be available at designated JAMB Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centres, including State Offices where applicable.

“Candidates seeking to access the service are required to provide the new GSM number and/or email address, as applicable, as well as a duly executed court affidavit scanned and ready for upload.

How to access the service

According to JAMB, candidates are required to log into their e-Facility profiles using their existing credentials, including their email address, registration number or profile code.

“They are then expected to select ‘SIM Swap/eMail Change Payment’ from the menu and pay the prescribed fee.

“After payment, candidates are to proceed to a JAMB CBT Centre and access the SIM Swap/eMail Change Quicklink.

“At the centre, they will enter their profile code or existing GSM number and click ‘Fetch Details’, after which they will undergo biometric verification.

“The candidate will then select the required service — GSM number only, email address only, or both GSM number and email address — before entering the new details and uploading the scanned court affidavit.

“The process is completed by clicking ‘Update’, after which a confirmation message will be displayed upon successful completion,” JAMB stated.

The Board advised candidates to use the service strictly for genuine cases and patronise only designated CBT centres.

JAMB further noted that the reviewed policy was part of its effort to balance strong data security with candidate-friendly service delivery, ensuring that genuine candidates are not unnecessarily disadvantaged by circumstances beyond their control.

Candidates seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions can now upload and verify their O’Level results from the comfort of their homes, following a new initiative by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Under the new arrangement, candidates will no longer need to visit Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres solely to upload their Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results, as JAMB will verify the results directly with the examination bodies, beginning with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

In a statement on Monday in Abuja, JAMB’s Acting Director, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr.

According to him, the initiative was part of its renewed commitment to making its services “easier, faster, safer and more convenient” for candidates.

He said the integration of its e-Facility platform with examination bodies would enable candidates’ results to be verified against the records of the issuing bodies before being downloaded into their profiles.

The new system is also expected to address problems associated with manual O’Level result uploads, including misplaced or mixed-up paper results, presentation of fraudulent or unverified certificates and errors in the manual entry of subjects and grades.

The examination body said the initiative would particularly ease pressure on CBT centres during periods of high patronage and help reduce the effect of network challenges and long queues.

The statement reads: “Consequently, candidates can now upload their O’Level results from the comfort of their homes, while the Board undertakes the verification of such results directly with the issuing examination bodies.

“The initiative is part of the Board’s renewed commitment to making services easier, faster, safer and more convenient for candidates. By using technology to reduce unnecessary visits to CBT centres, queues and manual processes, JAMB is putting candidate ease of service delivery at the centre of its operations.

“The new arrangement also addresses challenges associated with manual O’Level result uploads, including misplaced or mixed-up paper results, presentation of unverified or fraudulent results, and errors in the manual entry of subjects and grades. Through the integration of JAMB’s eFacility platform with examination bodies, results can now be verified directly against the examination body’s records before being downloaded into the candidate’s profile.”

To use the new service, candidates are required to visit its website, enter their National Identification Number (NIN) and select the number of examination sittings and relevant examination body or bodies.

After providing their email address and GSM number, candidates are required to pay for the verification using a debit card or bank transfer before entering their examination number, examination series and examination year.