The Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, is currently embroiled in a messy certificate forgery scandal.
This comes as the Minister currently serving under the administration of President Bola Tinubu was accused of forging a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree certificate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)
The scandal began after Uche Nnaji in his 10-year curriculum vitae submitted to the Senate during his ministerial screening, included his degree and NYSC certificate.
The Minister also told the lawmakers that he graduated from UNN with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Microbiology and underwent his one-year mandatory NYSC service in Jos, Plateau State.
He would later be screened and cleared by the Senate and became the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology.
UNN Reacts to Uche Nnaji’s Certificate
The scandal escalated after several media houses published findings exposing inconsistencies in Nnaji’s academic and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) documents.
This led many journalists to send an inquiry to the authorities of the UNN to seek answers on when Nnaji graduated from the school.
However, UNN’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, in a letter dated October 2, 2025, dropped a bombshell, confirming that while Nnaji was admitted in 1981 with matriculation number 1981/30725 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry, he failed to complete his studies.
Ortuanya also noted that the institution did not and could not have issued him the certificate he has been parading.
The letter reads: “We refer to your letter dated 29 September 2025 in respect of the above subject matter. We can confirm that Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, with Matriculation Number 1981/30725, was admitted by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1981.
“From every available record and information from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we are unable to confirm that Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, the current Minister of Science and Technology, graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985, as there are no records of his completion of study in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
“Flowing from above, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka did not and consequently, could not have issued the purported certificate, or at all, in July 1985 to Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, the current Minister of Science and Technology. This conclusion is also in consonance with an earlier letter dated May 13, 2025, ref. No, RUN/SR/R/V, issued by the University to the Public Complaints Commission in respect of the same subject matter (copy attached).”
NYSC’s Reaction
The recent letter by Ortuanya, comes a few months after NYSC also disowned the minister’s discharge certificate marked A231309 and dated 1986.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass checks revealed that whereas the degree certificate Nnaji parades is dated July 1986, his NYSC certificate indicates that he served from April 16, 1985, to May 15, 1986.
This is not only an unusual 13-month-long service as against a one-year national service, but also about three months earlier than his purported graduation from the university in July 1985.
In other words, it would mean that Uche Nnaji started serving before his graduation. This would therefore be a record for the organisation founded in 1970.
Also, checks revealed that whereas the chief executive of the NYSC at the time he claimed to have undergone the national service was Col. Edet Akpan, who held sway between January 1984 and December 1987, the minister’s supposed NYSC discharge certificate bears the signature of Col. Animashaun Braimoh, who was the fifth CEO of the NYSC between January 1988 and December 1990.
Legal proceedings emerge
Following the media scrutiny, Uche Nnaji approached a Federal High Court in Abuja for an interim injunction restraining the Minister of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC), UNN, its Vice Chancellor, its Registrar, and the Senate from acting on the request to release his records.
Through a motion ex parte, the minister asked the court to stop the university and its officials from “tampering with” or releasing any details about his academic records. He also asked the court to compel the institution to release his academic transcript and to direct the Minister of Education and the NUC to make UNN comply.
In addition, he sought an interim injunction restraining UNN from altering or releasing any information about him until the case was decided.
However, after listening to the submission of Counsel in the lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1909/2025, Justice Hausa Yilwa, in her ruling on September 22, granted three of the minister’s requests but refused to issue an injunction stopping the university from acting.
Justice Yilwa ruled: “I am of the humble view from the facts deposed in the affidavits, alongside the exhibits attached, that the applicant has sufficient interest in the matter to which this application relates.
“Thus, this application is meritorious. Consequently, I hereby grant prayers 1, 2, and 3 only. Prayer 4 is declined. Having been refused, the granting of reliefs 1-3 shall not serve as injunctive reliefs against any of the parties.”
Sources familiar with the case said that Nnaji’s legal action was an attempt to block the university from releasing details of his academic records to journalists or investigators. He was also said to be pushing to obtain his transcript to “refresh his memory” about where he may have stopped during his university days.
However, what drew the most attention about the lawsuit, is what the minister himself revealed in his affidavit.
In paragraphs 12 and 13 of his 34-paragraph statement, Uche Nnaji made a surprising confession that appears to confirm he never collected a certificate from the university.
In paragraph 12, he said he was admitted to study Microbiology/Biochemistry in 1981 and that he completed the programme in 1985. But in the following paragraph, he stated that he had not been issued a certificate, blaming “the non-cooperative attitude” of UNN officials for his inability to collect it.
What Nigerians are saying
The alleged certificate forgery has already started generating a barrage of reactions.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has demanded the immediate prosecution of the minister.
Obi, in a statement issued on Monday, warned that when dishonest behaviour is modelled by public officials, it corrodes the moral standards available to young Nigerians.
Obi stated: “But in my country Nigeria, though the laws are same as in other countries, that forgery is punished by immediate disqualification, the Independent National Electoral Commission makes no effort to scrutinize certificates before the elections, over looks complaints of forgery and when you challenged after the elections, court will dismiss the serious criminal issues as ‘pre-election matters’ without giving this criminal act appropriate punishment.
“INEC, even after the elections, does not bother to revisit or investigate these serious offences before the next election.
“The other concerning issue from all these is how criminals and dishonest people scale through all the scrutiny layers -security, parliament, and government apparatus set to handle such.
“Even more disturbing, amounting to double tragedy, is that most of these dishonest people swore to an affidavit before a law court attesting to the authenticity of the documents they presented.
“We are now preparing for the 2027 general elections. INEC has enough time to investigate past complaints about various forms of forgery and false claims.
“Our Electoral amendments must include that anyone intending to contest for any public office, whether an incumbent or a new candidate, must submit all academic certificates to the electoral body immediately after party primaries, at least six months before the election.
“These certificates, alongside details of schools attended, what was studied, and years of study, should be made public for verification within 90 days.
“This process must also apply to appointed officials, Ministers, and even aides, because when dishonesty starts from the top, it spreads to every level of governance, just like it’s happening now.”
Below are some other reactions;
