The Federal Government has dismissed reports claiming that the Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS) was hacked, insisting that the platform remains secure and fully operational.
The Federal Ministry of Education described the report, titled “Suspected Cyberattack Hits FG’s Education Data Platform,” as inaccurate and misleading.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, the ministry clarified that at no point was the NEMIS platform breached or subjected to any cyberattack.
“The Ministry wishes to categorically state that the report is inaccurate and misleading. At no time was the NEMIS platform hacked, breached, or subjected to any cyberattack. The integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data on the platform remain fully intact,” the statement read.
The ministry explained that the temporary warning message observed by some users was due to an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate configuration issue at the hosting level, and not a security breach.
According to the statement, the technical issue affected the platform’s secure access certification but did not result in any unauthorised access, data loss, data alteration or exposure of sensitive information.
“The incident was purely technical in nature and did not involve any unauthorised access to the system, data loss, data alteration, or exposure of sensitive information,” it stated.
The ministry added that its technical team worked with the hosting service provider to quickly resolve the issue once it was identified, restoring normal services on the platform.
“Upon identification of the issue, the Ministry’s technical team, working in collaboration with the hosting service provider, promptly resolved the matter and restored normal service operations. The platform remains fully functional, secure, and accessible to all authorised users,” it said.
It further clarified that browser security warnings and SSL certificate alerts do not automatically indicate a cyberattack or data breach.
The ministry noted that such alerts may result from routine technical or configuration issues and should not be misinterpreted as evidence of malicious activity.
It also reaffirmed that NEMIS remains a critical digital platform for the collection, management and use of education data across Nigeria, supporting planning and policy decisions in the sector.
The ministry said it continues to implement strong security measures, including regular system monitoring, infrastructure safeguards and periodic security assessments to ensure data protection and system reliability.
It urged media organisations and members of the public to verify information from official sources before publication, warning against the spread of unverified claims that could cause unnecessary alarm or undermine confidence in government digital systems.
