FG dismisses civil servants with degrees from private universities in Benin Republic, Togo

The Federal Government has terminated the employment of civil servants holding degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo, News360 Nigeria reports.

The directive affects federal workers who graduated from these institutions between 2017 and the present.

Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the development on Wednesday.

This decision follows a government crackdown on degree fraud after a Daily Nigerian investigation revealed a journalist obtained a degree from a Benin Republic university in two months and used it to enroll in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic were accredited to award degrees to Nigerians. The government subsequently banned the evaluation of degrees from unaccredited institutions in these countries and formed an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling.

Former Minister of Education Tahir Mamman disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degrees from these nations, which have now been invalidated.

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.”

Our correspondent 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.