Reps begin investigation into alleged certificate racketeering by MDAs

• House mandated its Committees on University Education, Interior Foreign Affairs, and Youth Development to investigate the matter and report back

The House of Representatives has begun investigation into alleged certificate racketeering by some officials of Federal Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies involved in alleged certificate racketeering with Nigerian students.

Rep. Abubakar Fulata, Chairman, Joint Committee on Certificate Racketeering, vowed to confront such a menace in tertiary institutions during its sitting in Abuja.

He said certificate racketeering could cripple healthcare system and various sectors of the economy if allowed to go unchecked.

Fulata said the House mandated its Committees on University Education, Interior Foreign Affairs, and Youth Development to investigate the matter and report back.

“This has been a burning issue in both public and private institutions where there are seemingly less observance of rules, regulations, processes, quality assurance, among others.

He said there was a need to get to the root of the illicit act and proffer solutions while appealing to MDAs and relevant stakeholders to cooperate with the committee to achieve the desired result.

NAN reports that a Nigerian reporter, Umar Audu, had, in December 2022, bagged a degree from a university in Cotonou, Benin Republic, in six weeks and subsequently participated in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme.

Audu subsequently accused unnamed officials of the Ministry of Education as members of the racketeering syndicate; a development that elicited widespread criticism by well-meaning Nigerians.

Leading the debate on the motion, Fulata called on the House to “identify officials of MDAs and students who benefited from such institutions and their campuses in the last ten years.