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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has begun an investigation into the certificate forgery scandal of a former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, PREMIUM TIMES reports.
A painstaking two-year investigation published by PREMIUM TIMES in October last year revealed that Mr Nnaji forged his degree and NYSC certificates which he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.
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Barely three days after the investigation, the politician resigned his position as minister.
Many Nigerians had called for Mr Nnaji’s prosecution, maintaining that his resignation was inadequate in the wake of his violations of various Nigerian laws, including Criminal Code Act.
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Fresh trouble
Sources familiar with the development informed PREMIUM TIMES that the ICPC wrote to the Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume, and demanded the documents Mr Nnaji submitted for his ministerial appointment.
The anti-graft agency, this newspaper reliably gathered, also contacted the Nigerian Senate for the same purpose.
Insiders say the former minister could be prosecuted if the investigation shows that he truly forged his credentials.
PREMIUM TIMES could not confirm if the ICPC investigators had contacted NYSC authorities over the former minister’s forgery scandal although there are indications both agencies have been in discussions.
UNN registrar invited
Celine Nnebedum, the registrar of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), has appeared before ICPC investigators to present the university’s position on the certificate forgery scandal, sources further told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mrs Nnebedum had, in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) Letter to the Peoples Gazetteer Newspaper in 2024, claimed that Mr Nnaji was admitted into the university in 1981 and graduated from the institution in 1985.
But the registrar, while responding to a similar enquiry from the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), later recanted, and informed the PCC in May 2025 that the university searched its graduation records for the 1985 session but could not find Mr Nnaji’s name on them.
Curiously, in another letter to PREMIUM TIMES on 6 October 2025 and signed by UNN’s Senior Deputy Registrar (Records), F.C. Achiuwa on behalf of Mrs Nnebedum, the registrar reiterated that the minister did not complete his studies at the institution and was not issued a certificate.
Her latest response aligns with an initial letter to this newspaper from the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Simon Ortuanya, who also noted that although Mr Nnaji was admitted to the institution in 1981, he did not complete his studies and was never awarded a degree.
Like the registrar, Mr Ortuanya’s letter, dated 2 October 2025, was in response to this newspaper’s FOI request submitted to the university in which we sought clarifications on allegations of certificate forgery against the then-minister.
A source familiar with the ICPC investigation informed PREMIUM TIMES that the investigators had written to UNN for clarifications on the certificate forgery saga.
The source said although the registrar has responded to the investigators, she was asked to provide additional documents .
It is unclear, for now, if the registrar has submitted the additional documents to the ICPC.
ICPC silent
When contacted on Thursday morning, the spokesperson of the ICPC, John Odey, told PREMIUM TIMES that he would not be able to speak on the issue because he is currently on leave.
“Until I return to the office next week, I won’t be able to confirm it. If you call me back on Monday afternoon, I might be able to give you answers,” Mr Odey said.
Background
In October 2023, PREMIUM TIMES began an investigation into Mr Nnaji’s academic records.
The then-minister had submitted a degree and NYSC certificates to President Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation.
READ ALSO: EDITORIAL: Why Certificate Forger Uche Nnaji Must Be Prosecuted Now
He had claimed that he obtained the degree certificate from UNN where he claimed to have graduated from in 1985.
Apparently disturbed that he was under scrutiny, Mr Nnaji filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja with the intention to block both UNN and its vice-chancellor from releasing his academic records.
Apart from the UNN and its vice-chancellor, the minister of education, the National Universities Commission, the university’s registrar, a former UNN Acting Vice-Chancellor, Oguejiofo Ujam, and the Senate of the university were listed as defendants in the suit.
But before the minister filed the suit, Mr Ortuanya, the UNN vice-chancellor, had responded to PREMIUM TIMES’ FOI letter in which he confirmed that Mr Nnaji forged his UNN degree certificate.
The UNN registrar would, shortly after, corroborate Mr Ortuanya’s position, indicating that although Mr Nnaji was admitted into the university in 1981, he neither graduated nor was issued any certificate.
NYSC authorities, in response to a separate FOI letter from PREMIUM TIMES, had disowned the discharge certificate in possession of the then-minister.
Mr Nnaji resigned from his position as minister three days after this newspaper published the investigation exposing how he forged his degree and NYSC certificates.
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