The Federal Government has terminated the employment of civil servants holding degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo.
This directive, which targets federal workers who graduated from these institutions between 2017 and the present, follows a crackdown on degree fraud.
Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the decision on Wednesday. The move comes after an investigation revealed a journalist obtained a degree from a Benin Republic university in just two months and used it to enroll in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
In August, the government announced that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic were accredited to award degrees to Nigerians. It subsequently banned the evaluation of degrees from unaccredited institutions in these countries and formed an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee to address the issue.
Former Minister of Education Tahir Mamman disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degrees from these nations, all of which have now been invalidated. He stated, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but obtained them through racketeering in collaboration with officials at home and abroad.”
Although the exact number of affected civil servants remains unclear, sources indicate that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has issued a memo directing all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to identify and terminate the appointments of employees with certificates from these unaccredited universities.
The NYSC has already implemented the directive, with its Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirming the dismissal of five staff members. She stated, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the Office of the SGF.”
This decision underscores the Federal Government’s resolve to curb certificate fraud and ensure the integrity of academic qualifications in both the public and private sectors.
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