REPS SUMMON MINISTERS OF EDUCATION, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, OTHERS OVER ALLEGED CERTIFICATE FRAUD
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By: Motunrayo Aniwura
The House of Representatives Joint Committee has summoned the Ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs, among others, over growing concerns about certificate racketeering involving some Nigerians.
Also invited to the investigative public hearing, scheduled for Monday, May 19, 2025, are the Ministers of Youth Development and Interior, along with the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
In a statement released in Abuja on Saturday, the Chairman of the Committee, Abubakar Hassan Fulata, expressed serious concern about the issue and assured that the National Assembly would take firm action.
The statement further noted that the invitation was extended to the Committee of Vice Chancellors, the National Universities Commission (NUC), Penlight Media Ltd, and the Ministry of Higher and Science Education in the Republic of Benin (Ambassade De La Republique Du Benin, Abuja), among others.
The lawmaker said the move by the House of Representatives followed revelation by a journalist who disguised and investigated the racketeering which he believed was patriotism on the side of the journalist.
Fulata added that although letters had already been sent to all relevant public and private institutions, the statement serves as a reminder that any head of an MDA or organization who fails to attend will be regarded as contributing to corruption and certificate fraud in the education sector.
He said lawmakers cannot fold their hands watching the education sector get rotten.
Fulata said: “The journalist went undercover and investigated the booming business, bagged Cotonou varsity degree within few weeks as well as participated in the NYSC scheme within the shortest speed of time.
“This unfortunate development in the education system is indeed alarming. It is even more worrisome that while most Nigerians undergo the process of acquiring educational qualifications following the laid down processes and procedures, others sneak underneath to illicitly acquire their certificates with which they obtain jobs and operate in different fields of human endeavours in this country.
”The act is not only illegal but very dangerous to our collective wellbeing, future and the socio-economic development of the country as whole.”
He disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and the Nigerian Immigration Service were yet to make their submission to the Committee despite their request earlier.
Fulata said 52 Federal Universities are yet to make submission, while 61 state universities and 93 private universities are also yet to make their submission.
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