Uche Nnaji, a former Nigerian minister, is set to face arraignment over allegations that he forged academic certificates. According to a six-count criminal charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nnaji presented fake documents to secure his ministerial appointment in 2023.
The ICPC filed the charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, alleging that Nnaji knowingly gave false information by presenting a 'false Certificate of National Service' to the government. The commission also accused Nnaji of presenting a Microbiology/Biochemistry degree certificate that he knew to be false.
The charges against Nnaji come after a painstaking two-year investigation published by PREMIUM TIMES in October last year, which revealed that the then-minister forged his UNN degree and NYSC certificates. These documents were submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.
Nnaji, who served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, is accused of 'taking possession' of N29.5 million through his Fidelity Bank account as basic salary and allowances while serving as minister, 'when you reasonably ought to have known that such funds formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: corruption and fraud.'
The ICPC argued that, by this act, Nnaji committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
With the charges filed, Nnaji is expected to be arraigned in the coming days.
In October 2023, PREMIUM TIMES began investigating Nnaji's academic records. The then-minister had submitted his degree and NYSC certificates to President Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation. He claimed he obtained a degree from UNN in 1985.
Disturbed by the scrutiny, Nnaji filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to block the UNN and its Vice-Chancellor, Simon Ortuanya, from releasing his academic records. Other defendants in the suit included the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission, the university's registrar, its former Acting Vice-Chancellor, Oguejiofo Ujam, and the University Senate. However, the politician recently applied for an out-of-court settlement through his legal team.
Before Nnaji could obtain a court injunction, Ortuanya had already responded to a PREMIUM TIMES Freedom of Information (FOI) letter, confirming that Nnaji had forged his UNN degree certificate. The university registrar later corroborated this, indicating that although Nnaji was admitted in 1981, he neither graduated nor was issued a certificate.
NYSC authorities also disowned the discharge certificate in the possession of the then-minister in response to a separate FOI request.