The Federal Government has dismissed civil servants holding degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo, as reported by The PUNCH.
This decision affects federal employees who graduated from these institutions between 2017 and the present.
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.
Earlier, in August, the government announced that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic were accredited to issue degrees to Nigerians. This move followed an investigative report where a journalist obtained 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, the government suspended the recognition of degrees from these countries, setting up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to investigate degree certificate racketeering.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degrees from these countries, and these certificates would be revoked. He emphasized that this decision aimed to preserve Nigeria’s reputation, stating that many individuals had obtained fake certificates without leaving Nigeria, often through racketeering networks involving local and foreign officials.
Mamman stated there would be no reversal of the cancellation, asserting that these actions were necessary to curb fraudulent practices. He urged the private sector to follow suit in addressing fake certificates.
Though the exact number of affected civil servants is unclear, sources revealed that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation’s office had issued a memo to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to enforce the dismissal order.
A source, speaking anonymously, confirmed that the terminations were based on the inter-ministerial committee’s findings. The memo instructed MDAs to identify and dismiss employees with degrees from unaccredited universities in Togo and Benin Republic.
Some agencies, including the NYSC, have already started implementing the directive. Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information, confirmed that five staff members had been dismissed as part of the SGF’s instructions.
