The federal government has approved the dismissal of workers in both the public and private sectors who possess fake degree certificates obtained from Benin and Togo Republics.

The decision was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, during a press conference in Abuja on Friday, marking his one year in office.

Mamman revealed that the measures were approved during a recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

The decision follows recommendations made by an inter-ministerial committee set up by the federal government to investigate an undercover report published by DAILY NIGERIAN in December.

The report exposed how degree certificates from Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT), Cotonou, Benin Republic, were obtained by an undercover reporter in less than two months.

The minister emphasized that most institutions attended by Nigerian students in Benin and Togo are not licensed to offer degree programs.

“One of the things we did in the course of the year was — remember when information broke out about some of our students going to neighbouring countries — some not even going at all — to obtain certificates,” Mamman said

The ministry set up a committee to look into that; the committee came up with a detailed review; that review was sent to the federal executive council about a month ago, which approved some of the recommendations from the ministry.”

Mamman further explained that the recommendations would be implemented alongside other ministries and agencies, including NYSC and Immigration, as part of the disciplinary measures against those affected.

He highlighted the unfairness of allowing individuals with fake certificates to compete with students who legitimately earned their degrees, stating, “We can’t have in our midst people who procure fake certificates and compete with our students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics through their sweat.”

The minister also disclosed that data from NYSC revealed about 21,684 students are parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, obtained between 2019 to 2023, while Togo accounts for about 1,105 fake certificates. He stressed that only a few universities in these countries are officially approved to offer degrees.

Mamman warned, “From 2017, anybody who attended a university solely run in English is wasting his time because it’s not an approved university. That is their policy.”

To enforce this decision, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will issue a circular to all employers, instructing them to identify and dismiss anyone with a certificate from these unapproved institutions. Additionally, the Head of Service has been mandated to remove from public service anyone found with such certificates.