The Federal Government has directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as military and paramilitary organisations, to begin mandatory verification of staff academic credentials from October 6, 2025.
The directive follows concerns raised by education stakeholders over declining standards and the rising prevalence of forged certificates across the country.
To address this, government has ordered the full implementation of the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD).
According to a circular dated August 8, 2025 (Reference: 58524/111C/579) and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume (CON), all MDAs and higher institutions—public, private, civilian, and military—must adopt the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS) for staff qualification checks.
Under the new system, appointments will only be confirmed after the NCVS validates academic documents. Each verification will generate a National Credential Number (NCN) with unique security codes for record management, replacing the previous reliance on individual institutions to authenticate certificates.
The NERD, recommended by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in May 2023, will oversee enforcement of the policy. Institutions and agencies are required to submit annual NERD compliance reports by March 30 every year.
A 2022 Bureau of Public Service Reforms report shows that Nigeria has about 720,000 federal civil servants. The NCVS, launched in March 2025 by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, is part of wider reforms approved by the Federal Executive Council.
Dr. Alausa described the NCVS as a nationwide quality assurance system to curb academic fraud, including counterfeit degrees, fake certificates, and qualifications from unaccredited institutions and diploma mills.
