The house of representatives has cleared universities in the Republic of Togo of the alleged issuance of fake certificates, following a collaborative probe with diplomatic channels and the ministry of foreign affairs.
The lower chamber has, however, has intensified its probe into universities in the Benin Republic, scheduling a hearing for July 10, 2025.
The federal ministry of education has also been summoned to testify on the matter.
Bitrus Kwamoti Laori, chairman of the house committee on public petitions, spoke in Abuja while considering a petition 445 of 2024.
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The petition was submitted by Sovereign Legal Practitioners on behalf of education stakeholders.
It was directed against the federal ministry of education concerning the minister’s pronouncement on alleged fake certificates from universities in the Benin Republic and Togo.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the chairman Laori confirmed that the issue concerning Togo had been resolved, while the focus now shifts solely to the Benin Republic.
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“Petitioners, we have a letter from your counsel, who is indisposed, asking that this matter be adjourned to the 10th of July, 2025,” Laori stated.
“And this matter was earlier fixed for today for the Federal Ministry of Education to come and clarify the implementation of the 2024 directive on qualifying exams.
“Also, with the earlier response we have from the ministry of foreign affairs, the issue we have is with Benin Republic and not Togo. Of course, the Togo Republic was cleared by the ministry [foreign affairs]. The only issue we have now is Benin Republic.”
In his ruling, the chairman said: “Following the letter from your counsel, this matter is adjourned to the 10th of July. And we will still serve the Federal Ministry of Education to come and give us clarifications on the pre-qualification examinations in the Benin Republic.
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“That’s the issue that’s holding a lot of students and other graduands from the Benin Republic. So, Togo has no issue; it is only Benin.”
This development follows the federal government’s December 2024 dismissal of some civil servants who obtained degrees from private tertiary institutions in the Republic of Benin and Togo between 2017 and the present.
The house of representatives, it is understood, is also investigating a report by an undercover reporter that exposed a certificate racketeering syndicate in the Benin Republic, allegedly involved in selling university degrees to Nigerian buyers.
In 2024, a report had exposed a certificate racketeering syndicate in the Benin Republic that sells university degrees to willing buyers in Nigeria.
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During the investigation, an undercover reporter bagged a four-year university degree from Cotonou in six weeks.
The reporter used the fake certificate to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme without detection.
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The investigation stated that racketeering agents in Nigeria are in cahoots with the top management of the university campus in Cotonou.
Multiple stakeholders have since been demanding a probe of Nigeria’s education ministry over a clearance issued to foreign universities.
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