A year and five months after Nigeria imposed a blanket ban on degrees from both Togo and the Benin Republic, the House of Representatives has officially cleared Togo of any involvement in the issuance of fake academic certificates but vows to sanction the Benin Republic. The investigation into widespread certificate racketeering will now focus solely on the Republic of Benin. 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 challenges explicitly the Federal Ministry of Education’s broad pronouncement last year, which 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 examinations 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 clarification on the pre-qualification examinations being imposed on graduates from the 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, during which an undercover journalist exposed a lucrative certificate-for-sale scheme in the Republic of Benin, prompting widespread public outrage and immediate administrative action by the federal government.
Following the exoneration of Togo, the focus has now quickly shifted to the Benin Republic’s institutions and their Nigerian collaborators in the ongoing certificate forgery scandal. This follows the dismissal of dozens of civil servants 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. While the Representatives’ investigation continues, they have vowed to tear down the networks facilitating these illicit activities.
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