The Federal Government has terminated the appointments of civil servants who obtained degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo between 2017 and now.
Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the development on Wednesday, citing concerns over the credibility of degrees awarded by institutions in these countries.
The directive follows the government’s August 2024 announcement that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic had accreditation to award degrees to Nigerians.
The decision came after an undercover investigation by Daily Nigerian, which exposed how a journalist acquired a degree in just two months from a Benin Republic university and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
In response to the revelations, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in both countries.
An Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling was also established to probe certificate racketeering.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degrees from universities in the two francophone countries.
Mamman further explained that the Federal Executive Council had reviewed the committee’s report, which detailed how both foreign and local universities facilitated certificate racketeering, undermining the integrity of Nigeria’s education system.
He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.
A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.
The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.
“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”
Punch also gathered that some agencies, like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.
The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.
She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
Additional details from Punch
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