Atiku, Abati, others demand prosecution of Uche Nnaji
Many Nigerians have condemned a former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, exposed by a PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation for certificate forgery.
The Nigerians also called on authorities to prosecute the former minister.
A painstaking two-year investigation published by PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday 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.
The politician submitted the discredited certificates to the Senate and other Nigerian authorities as part of his credentials to support his ministerial appointment in 2023.
He resigned from his position as minister on Tuesday, about three days after this newspaper published the investigation.
The former minister could face up to 21 years imprisonment or more, a PREMIUM TIMES’ review of various Nigerian laws showed.
‘Resignation inadequate, probe all ministers’ certificates’
Reacting to the development, a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for disguising Mr Nnaji’s exit as a “voluntary resignation.”
In a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Atiku said Mr Nnaji’s certificate scandal was a “national shame” and that the manner with which he resigned was an attempt to “whitewash the scandal that typifies the forgery-ridden character” of the government.
“Let the truth be told: Uche Nnaji should not have been allowed the courtesy of resignation. He should have been summarily dismissed and prosecuted for deceit and falsification.
“By permitting him to quietly exit through the backdoor, the Tinubu administration has once again demonstrated that it is an assembly of forgers, impostors, and morally bankrupt individuals masquerading as public servants,” the former vice-president argued.
‘Tinubu, all ministers should be probed’
Atiku, the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, also contended that Mr Nnaji’s certificate forgery scandal was not an isolated case, noting that Mr Tinubu has been enmeshed in controversies surrounding his identity, age, and academic records.
“I, therefore, call for an independent, transparent, and comprehensive investigation into the academic and professional credentials of all members of the Federal Executive Council, beginning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself,” he said.
The former vice-president criticised the State Security Service for failing to detect Mr Nnaji’s forged certificates during ministerial screening even as they “screened out” Nasir El-Rufai for “security concerns” at the time.
Like Mr Nnaji, like others
In a long opinion article published shortly before Mr Nnaji’s resignation on Tuesday, Arise TV programme anchor, Reuben Abati, wondered why the former minister and other Nigerian politicians often claim to possess what they do not have.
Mr Abati, also a lawyer, recalled a similar case involving the then-Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, whose NYSC certificate forgery was equally exposed by a PREMIUM TIMES investigation in 2018, forcing her to resign before relocation to London.
He noted that security agencies ought to have carried out checks on all nominees for “high positions” of authority in Nigeria.
“In cases like this and Adeosun’s before now, security agencies are supposed to carry out checks on all nominees for high positions.
“How effective are those agencies? They missed it with Kemi Adeosun. They have also missed it apparently, again with Minister Nnaji,” he said.
‘Refund all your earnings, face prosecution’
Nobert Ogboe, a Facebook user, said the minister should be made to face the law.
“I think he should be arrested and prosecuted, and also made to refund all he has earned with interest as a minister,” Mr Ogboe wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
He said the prosecution of the former minister was necessary to serve “as a deterrent to others.”
Frank Tietie, a lawyer, agreed with Mr Ogboe.
Speaking on Wednesday when he appeared as a guest on Arise TV’s The Morning Show, Mr Tietie said the former minister committed grievous offences against the law and Nigerian institutions.
“Uche Nnaji has actually committed grievous offences, not only against the Nigerian educational system, not only against the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but also against the criminal laws in this country,” he said.
“I expect that beyond prosecution, Uche Nnaji should be prepared to return whatever he has got as a result of use of that certificate that is now presumptuously fake in the wake of that resignation,” the lawyer stated, citing a Supreme Court ruling backing the position.
On Monday, about 24 hours before Mr Nnaji’s resignation, Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, said the then-minister must be suspended immediately and then surrender himself to security agencies for investigation.
“This minister must be immediately suspended, pending the conclusion of investigations. He has to surrender himself tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to the police for investigation for forgery,” Mr Effiong said when he appeared on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
“Otherwise, they will be telling Nigerians that we are running a government of certificate forgers and criminality. The allegation remains an allegation, but the government must show willingness to investigate and address it.”
For Abbey Oniyide, another Facebook user whose profile says he is based in Lagos, allowing Mr Nnaji to go scot-free would spell more doom for Nigeria.
“With his resignation, he should be prosecuted. People with no certificate lording over those that struggled to get one. It’s a shame!!!” Mr Oniyide said on Wednesday.
Praise for Premium Times
A Facebook user, Daniels Duru was full of praise for Premium Times for exposing Mr Nnaji’s certificate forgery, culminating in his resignation.
Mr Duru, in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday night, said it was not enough for the minister to resign.
“Resignation is not enough! Uche Nnaji should be prosecuted now!,” he wrote.
“More forgeries by men and women in political and public positions should be exposed.”
Background
Allegations of certificate forgery had dogged Mr Nnaji since July 2023, when President Tinubu named him among the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees from 25 states forwarded to the Senate as part of the president’s initial cabinet list, two months after taking office on 29 May 2023.
Critics had long insisted that Mr Nnaji did not complete his university education and that both the bachelor’s degree and NYSC certificate he presented to President Tinubu, as well as to the offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the State Security Service, and the Senate, were forged.
The findings of PREMIUM TIMES’ extensive examination of the documents were damning and conclusive: both the degree certificate and the NYSC discharge certificate in the minister’s possession are outright forgeries.
This newspaper reported on Sunday that the then-minister has admitted that University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) never issued him a degree certificate.
Many Nigerians have expressed outrage over the then-minister’s certificate forgery.
On Monday, Mr Nnaji was absent from a press conference his office called to address the matter. His aides, however, appeared on his behalf during which they made unsubstantiated claims, including the claim that the then-minister indeed graduated from UNN.
PREMIUM TIMES later published documents showing that at the time Mr Nnaji claimed to have graduated from UNN and purportedly proceeded to participate in the mandatory national youth service, he was still exchanging correspondences with the institution on how he could re-sit a failed terminal course examination.
Following the findings in the investigation, the politician resigned his appointment on Tuesday evening.