When early a year and five months after a blanket ban on degrees from both Togo and Benin Republic, Nigeria’s House of Representatives has cleared Togo of any involvement in the issuance of fake academic certificates.
The investigation into widespread certificate racketeering will now focus solely on Benin Republic.
This development was announced by Rep. Bitrus Laori, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Petitions, during an investigative hearing in Abuja.
The hearing was a resumption of inquiries following Petition No. 445 of 2024, filed by Sovereign Legal Practitioners on behalf of key education stakeholders.
This petition had specifically challenged the Federal Ministry of Education’s broad pronouncement last year that implicated both countries in academic fraud.
According to Laori, diplomatic findings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were instrumental in exonerating Togo, effectively reaffirming the credibility of its educational institutions.
He said: “Of course, the Republic of Togo has been cleared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The outstanding issue remains with the Republic of Benin.”
The committee has now fixed July 10, 2025, for a fresh hearing focused solely on the Benin Republic following a formal adjournment prompted by the absence of counsel representing the petitioners.
The Federal Ministry of Education, which was also absent at the sitting, has been mandated to appear and provide clarity on its 2024 directive regarding pre-qualification exams for foreign degree holders.
“This case is adjourned to July 10, and we are issuing another summons to the Federal Ministry of Education,” Laori ruled.
“We need clarifications on the pre-qualification examinations being imposed on graduates from Benin Republic, which is currently affecting hundreds of Nigerian students and graduates.”
Persecondnews reports that this development follows a major sting operation in late 2024, where an undercover journalist exposed a lucrative certificate-for-sale scheme in Benin Republic, prompting widespread public outrage and immediate administrative action by the federal government.
Following the exoneration of Togo, the focus has now squarely shifted to Benin Republic’s institutions and their Nigerian collaborators in the ongoing certificate racketeering scandal.
This comes after dozens of civil servants were dismissed for presenting degrees obtained from unaccredited private universities in both Togo and Benin between 2017 and 2024.
Nigerian lawmakers are determined to combat academic fraud throughout West Africa.
As the House’s investigation continues, they have vowed to dismantle the networks facilitating these illicit activities.
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