A discover signed by the college’s Registrar, Dr (Mrs) C. N. Nnebedum, mentioned candidates who had uploaded WAEC results however wished to interchange them with NECO results, mix each results, or add a end result after beforehand indicating “Awaiting Result” had been required to replace and validate their information.
The deadline was midnight on September 30, 2026, the identical day the college’s Post-UTME screening portal was scheduled to shut.
At the University of Ilorin, the admission course of additionally introduced the problem nearer to dwelling for candidates and their households.
The college reopened its portal after the discharge of the NECO results for candidates who had been ready to add their results. The window ran from Monday, September 28, to Wednesday, September 30, at 11:59 p.m.
One father or mother, Adams Moses, from Minna, travelled to Ilorin along with his son after studying that the portal had reopened. His son had already secured admission however was ready for his NECO end result to finish the method.
The father or mother mentioned he personally confirmed on the college that the portal had opened on Monday night and closed on Wednesday at 11:55 p.m.
According to him, “The trip meant additional transport expenses for my family, already dealing with the cost of securing admission. The government needs to look into this.”
The son finally uploaded his NECO end result and accomplished the method.
His expertise confirmed the sensible difficulties candidates confronted when admission deadlines got here earlier than the discharge of their results.
The University of Abuja additionally reopened its 2026/2027 Post-UTME and Direct Entry screening portal till October 4.
In its September 25 discover, the college mentioned the reopening adopted the discharge of the 2026 NECO results and would allow affected candidates to finish their admission screening.
At the Federal University of Lafia (FULAFIA), the Post-UTME screening deadline was prolonged by an additional seven days after NECO launched its results on September 24.
The college mentioned the extension, which moved the deadline to October 4, would allow candidates who sat for NECO to add their results and full the screening course of.
Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), additionally prolonged its 2026/2027 Post-UTME screening train by two weeks, shifting the deadline from September 30 to October 14.
The college cited, amongst different difficulties, NECO token points that had prevented some candidates from finishing their functions.
Candidates caught within the hole
For college students, the uncertainty was greater than only a date on a portal.
Olakunle, a candidate affected by the ready interval, described the expertise as “like sitting on a hot seat.”
“Omo, what happened caused tension for students awaiting NECO results, and that’s why the government needs to look into this to address the situation,” he mentioned.
Another candidate, Mercy, mentioned, “All I can say is that it wasn’t easy when you’ve gotten admission and the university is saying it is closing its portal, and you have a deficiency and are awaiting some results.”
The 2026 expertise additionally matches into an extended sample.
NECO’s latest result-release figures present that its results have persistently been launched a number of weeks after the ultimate examination paper.
The hole was 58 days in 2023, 55 days in 2024, 54 days in 2025 and 63 days in 2026.
The figures increase a sensible query for the admission system: if examination results can take a number of weeks to change into accessible, how ought to college admission calendars accommodate candidates who rely on these results?
Who coordinates the calendars?
NECO Registrar and Chief Executive, Professor Dantani Wushishi, was requested in regards to the concern when he introduced the 2026 results in Minna on September 24.
He described it as “a pertinent question” that referred to as for “sober reflection.”
The registrar mentioned the matter was about “the value we attach to ourselves and our institutions” and “a question that questions our level of patriotism.”
Wushishi acknowledged that NECO wouldn’t change its timetable and that the federal government establishments chargeable for the admission system ought to deal with the problem.
“Because we feel that those in charge may not listen to us, we concluded that we should let our credibility speak for us,” he famous.
Wushishi additionally defined that the state of affairs raised questions on “the care for Nigerian children.”
Yet, there isn’t a publicly accessible determine displaying what number of candidates in search of admission in 2026 had been particularly ready for NECO results when college deadlines expired.
When contacted, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, mentioned it didn’t at the moment preserve knowledge displaying what number of candidates had been awaiting O’Level results or what number of had been particularly ready for NECO results.
The board mentioned such knowledge might, nevertheless, be helpful for planning.
It acknowledged, “We don’t have such data. Maybe one of these days, I can suggest that we look at that. I believe it has some value in planning.”
The National President of the Owners of Private Schools Association of Nigeria, OPSAN, Prof. Uzochukwu Solomon Nwanonyuo, had earlier referred to as for the suspension of the 2026/2027 tertiary admission course of till all excellent O’Level results had been launched.
Nwanonyuo made the decision in an announcement issued after an OPSAN stakeholders’ assembly in September, warning that persevering with the admission course of whereas some candidates had been nonetheless awaiting results from examination our bodies might drawback college students who relied on these results.
A supply accustomed to the place of the National Universities Commission, NUC, who declined to be named as a result of he was not authorised to talk formally, mentioned the fee’s regulatory duties centered largely on high quality assurance, monitoring universities and accrediting programmes.
The supply mentioned the problem concerned a number of stakeholders within the schooling sector, together with examination our bodies, JAMB and universities, and that the NUC could be higher positioned to reply formally if the matter had been introduced earlier than it via the suitable channel.
