The commission disclosed the development as part of its recent achievements, noting that the action followed a series of enforcement operations aimed at safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s teacher education system. Alongside the clampdown, the NCCE said it had also conducted personnel audits and financial monitoring in all 21 federal colleges of education to improve accountability and performance.
The move comes on the heels of President Bola Tinubu’s directive to education regulators to root out “certificate millers” threatening the credibility of higher institutions in the country. Speaking at the 14th convocation of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Abuja, the President, represented by the Director of University Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Rakiya Ilyasu, tasked agencies such as the NCCE, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to take decisive action against unapproved schools.
Tinubu emphasized that the integrity of the education sector must be preserved. “This administration remains committed to strengthening the integration of all agencies involved in the administration of education to enhance efficiency and quality,” he said.
He further noted that key institutions such as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the NUC, NBTE, and NCCE are working collaboratively to ensure that cases of certificate forgery and unrecognized schools—whether domestic or foreign—are eliminated from the education ecosystem.
Education analysts say the latest crackdown is a step in the right direction, especially as Nigeria grapples with concerns over the quality of teacher training and the proliferation of unapproved institutions awarding fake certificates.