The Federal Government has dismissed numerous civil servants who earned degrees from private institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, affecting those who graduated from 2017 onward. Segun Imohiosen, the Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed this decision. In August, the government specified that only eight universities are accredited to grant degrees to Nigerians in these countries.
This decision came after an undercover investigation by a Daily Nigerian journalist, who obtained a degree from a university in Benin Republic in just two months and used it to join the National Youth Service Corps. In response to the findings, the government has prohibited the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo. Additionally, the Federal Government established an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee to investigate the operations of certificate fraudsters.
Former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, announced that more than 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fraudulent degree certificates from institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, which will be revoked. This information was included in a report presented to the Federal Executive Council by an investigative committee looking into degree certificate fraud from both foreign and local universities in Nigeria. Mamman emphasized that the government’s decision to cancel these certificates from the so-called “fake” universities is final.
Mamman asserted that revoking the fraudulent degree certificates was a necessary measure to protect Nigeria’s image. He noted that many individuals with fake certificates never attended these universities and instead obtained them through collaboration with corrupt officials both locally and abroad. He pointed out that these bogus institutions exploited the naivety of Nigerians seeking degrees.
The Federal Government plans to identify public employees holding such fake certificates, and he encouraged the private sector to take similar actions. While the exact number of affected civil servants is unknown, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has issued a directive for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to comply with the order.
A confidential source revealed that the dismissal of affected workers followed the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee. The source cited a directive from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation instructing all ministries, departments, and agencies to identify and terminate employees who obtained degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo since 2017.
This action is part of the committee’s investigation into the legitimacy of these certificates. It was also reported that some agencies, including the National Youth Service Corps, have already begun implementing this directive. Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information, confirmed that five staff members were dismissed as a result of the SGF’s directive. She stated, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive outlined in the letter from the SGF’s office. No more.”