The Federal Government has taken decisive action by terminating the appointments of several civil servants who obtained their degrees from private tertiary institutions located in Benin Republic and Togo.
This development was officially confirmed on Wednesday by the Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen.
According to Imohiosen, the directive applies to all federal workers who graduated from the aforementioned institutions starting from 2017 to the present day. This move underscores the government’s firm stance on ensuring the credibility of academic qualifications presented for employment in its civil service.
It is worth recalling that in August, the Federal Government made an announcement regarding the accreditation status of universities in neighboring countries. The statement revealed that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic were officially accredited to award degrees to Nigerians.
This policy shift followed an investigative report by Daily Nigerian, which exposed significant irregularities in degree acquisition from some institutions in Benin Republic. In the report, an undercover journalist successfully obtained a degree from a university in Benin Republic within just two months and later utilized the certificate to enroll in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
In response to these revelations, the government not only banned the accreditation of degrees from such institutions but also stopped the evaluation of academic qualifications issued by private universities in Benin Republic and Togo. This decision is part of broader efforts to uphold the integrity and standard of education qualifications recognized within the country.
