The federal government has dismissed several civil servants who obtained degrees from unaccredited private universities in Benin Republic and Togo.
The directive, which affects workers who graduated from these institutions between 2017 and the present, follows a broad crackdown on degree certificate fraud.
Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), confirmed the development to our correspondent on Wednesday.
In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities in Benin Republic and Togo were accredited to award degrees to Nigerians, following an investigative report by Daily Nigerian.
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The report revealed how a Nigerian journalist obtained a degree from a university in Benin Republic in just two months, using it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
In response to these findings, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from institutions in both countries. Additionally, an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee was set up to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
The committee’s investigation found that more than 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from these institutions.
Tahir Mamman, the former Minister of Education, explained that these fake degrees had been awarded through a combination of fraudulent practices and collaboration with government officials, both in Nigeria and abroad.
He emphasized that the decision to cancel these degrees was necessary to protect Nigeria’s international reputation.
The SGF’s office has directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to identify and terminate the appointments of civil servants with degrees from unaccredited universities in the two countries.
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Although the exact number of affected civil servants remains unclear, sources within the government confirmed that the sacking of employees is already underway, with some agencies, such as the NYSC, having already complied with the directive.
Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information, confirmed that five members of staff had been dismissed in line with the SGF’s order. She added that no further dismissals had taken place at the moment.
