A wave of outrage has greeted reports that some Federal Universities in Nigeria have allegedly refused to accept the recently released National Examinations Council (NECO) results from admission seekers, sparking condemnation from education advocates and concerned parents.
The Centre for Indigent Children Education (CICE), a non-governmental organization, has strongly criticized the development, describing it as “a deliberate denial of the right to education and an open-day robbery against innocent students”.
In a statement signed by its Director, Adebisi Ishola, CICE accused institutions such as the University of Ilorin (Unilorin) and the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) of rejecting candidates who applied for admission using “Awaiting Result” pending the release of their NECO results.
According to the organization, the affected universities accepted applications from candidates with Awaiting Results, collected post-UTME screening fees, and even conducted entrance tests, only to later deny admission to those whose NECO results were not uploaded before the institutions closed their online portals.
“This is a deliberate attempt to subvert the constitutionally guaranteed right to education. Many of these indigent students risked their lives traveling across the country for post-UTME screenings, only to be unfairly denied admission,” Ishola said.
CICE noted that the University of Ilorin allegedly closed its admission portal on September 4, 2025, almost two weeks before the 2025 NECO results were released on September 17, 2025, a move the group described as “coordinated exclusion” that unfairly penalized candidates relying on the national exam body.
The group called on the Minister of Education, as well as the Registrars of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and NECO, to urgently intervene and ensure the reopening of university portals to allow affected students to upload their NECO results.
“If this issue is not urgently addressed, it may lead to widespread litigation and loss of public trust in the NECO examination system,” the statement warned.
CICE further appealed to NECO to safeguard the credibility of its examination results, adding that continued rejection by universities could discourage students from sitting for the exam in future sessions.
The organization urged better coordination among all examination and admission bodies to prevent what it described as “avoidable injustice” in the 2025/2026 admission exercise.
Officials of the affected universities and examination bodies were yet to respond to inquiries on the matter as of press time.