How to verify your academic credentials online with Nigeria’s new ESSVerify portal

• Nigeria’s Ministry of Education has moved academic credential verification fully online through the new ESSVerify portal.

• The platform is designed to reduce delays, paperwork, and the stress of physical visits for applicants.

• From uploads to transcript requests and tracking, the process now follows a different system that many users need to understand.

For those who have been putting off authenticating academic credentials because of the stress of physical visits to the Federal Ministry of Education, that excuse, it appears, is now gone. 

The federal government has fully automated the process, and everything from document submission to tracking now happens online through a single portal.

Here is exactly how to use it:

Head to essverify.education.gov.ng and sign up to create an account. This is your gateway to the entire process, so make sure the details you register with are accurate and accessible because you will need to log back in to track your application.

Once your account is set up, submit your documents for authentication or evaluation directly on the portal. Ensure your scans are clear and complete before uploading. Blurry or incomplete documents are the fastest way to delay your application.

This is the step most people will miss. You cannot send your own transcript. Your university, polytechnic, or college of education must send it directly from an official institutional email address to ess1@education.gov.ng. 

Contact your institution's registry early, because this part is out of your hands, and academic registries are not always fast.

Payment is made directly on the portal. The reported fee is N4,000 per page, so factor that into your budget before you begin, especially if you have a multi-page transcript.

Once everything is submitted and paid for, you can monitor the status of your verification through the portal. No calls would be needed except if you need to make a complaint, and no physical follow-ups are required because the dashboard tells you where things stand.

Currently, the system covers all federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. State and private institutions are being onboarded in phases, so if yours is not yet on the list, keep an eye on updates from the ministry.

The ministry's Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, framed the shift as part of the government's broader digital transformation agenda, one aimed at improving data management, strengthening the integrity of academic records, and enhancing public service delivery. 

In plain terms, the old system, which required applicants to show up in person for verification, created room for delays, manipulation, and the kind of bureaucratic friction that has long made credential authentication a frustrating exercise for Nigerians at home and abroad.

The ministry says the automated platform is expected to simplify procedures and cut processing time considerably. Whether it fully delivers on that promise will depend on execution and how quickly institutions, particularly state and private ones still being onboarded, adapt to the new requirements.

READ NEXT: JAMB reschedules 2026 UTME exam for candidates affected by technical issues, confirms new dates