Minister Uche Nnaji absent from press briefing, aide makes unsubstantiated claims
The Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, on Monday, refused to appear at a press conference his office called to address the certificate forgery scandal involving him.
Instead of the minister, his spokesperson, Robert Ngwu, alongside other officials of the ministry in Abuja, showed up in the conference room designated for the briefing long after the 2 p.m. fixed for the event.
The press conference was organised in response to a PREMIUM TIMES investigative report published on Saturday, revealing that Mr Nnaji forged the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and national youth service certificates he presented to secure his ministerial appointment in 2023.
The minister’s office sent out Monday morning an invitation to journalists to attend a press conference, expected to address the scandal, at 2 p.m., at the Raw Material Research and Development Council in Abuja.
The invitation, titled ‘MINISTER SPEAKS,’ gave the impression that Mr Nnaji was going to personally speak to and field questions from journalists.
Based on the invitation, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Nnaji was ready to speak on this newspaper’s publication.
Journalists from various local and international media outlets operating in the country also filled the conference room designated for the press conference by the minister’s media team ahead of the 2 p.m. scheduled for the meeting.
But after one and a half hours of the journalists’ wait in the conference room, the minister failed to appear.
The press briefing, scheduled for 2 p.m., did not commence until about 3:30 p.m.
In the absence of the minister, his spokesperson, Mr Ngwu, accompanied by other officials of the ministry, presided over the meeting.
Allegations of certificate forgery have 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 have long insisted that Mr Nnaji did not complete his university education and that the bachelor’s degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate he presented to President Tinubu and the offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the State Security Service, and the Senate were forged.
PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday published a report from its two-year investigation of the authenticity of the UNN and national youth service discharge certificates.
This newspaper’s findings showed that Mr Nnaji forged the two certificates.
Discrepancies, unsubstantiated claims
At the press briefing held on Monday, the media team of Mr Nnaji distributed two documents to journalists.
The first was a paper showing blurred faces of what was described as the UNN 1985 graduating class. The second was a December 2023 letter from the university registrar, addressed to Peoples Gazette in response to its inquiry on Mr Nnaji’s academic records.
Citing the documents, the minister’s spokesperson, Mr Ngwu, insisted that Mr Nnaji graduated from UNN.
“Let me state clearly and for the record: Chief Uche Nnaji is a proud alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), having graduated in July 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology/Biochemistry, with Second Class (Honours), Lower Division,” Mr Ngwu told reporters.
However, a closer examination of the documents revealed discrepancies. While the UNN registrar’s letter identified the minister as “Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji,” the class gallery listed the name “Nnaji Uchenna G” — two clearly different names.
When a Channels Television reporter raised the inconsistency, Mr Ngwu dismissed it.
“You know, in Igbo land, Uchechukwu and Uchenna are the same thing,” he said.
Mr Ngwu also alleged that his principal was being targeted by political rivals, pointing fingers at Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, without providing evidence.
He accused the governor of orchestrating “false narrative and political intrigue”. He also did not provide any proof to back this claim.
“We have good records that he (Mr Mbah) is the one behind the mask,” the spokesperson said.
According to him, the university’s position shifted only after “two card-carrying members of the PDP suddenly emerged as Acting Vice-Chancellor and later Vice-Chancellor of UNN.”
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UNN Registrar’s office has since recanted the letter it sent in response to People’s Gazette’s request in December 2023 claiming Mr Nnaji graduated from the institution.
In May, the registrar’s office sent a letter to the Public Complaints Commission disowning Mr Nnaji’s certificate.
On 2 October, the vice-chancellor of the university, Simon Ortuanya, who assumed office in August, confirmed in response to PREMIUM TIMES Freedom of Information request that Mr Nnaji was a drop-out, who could not have been issued a certificate by the institution.
Mr Nnaji himself did not attend Monday’s briefing. Asked why the minister was absent, his spokesperson gave no clear explanation.
Mr Ngwu also claimed that UNN had yet to issue his statement of results and refused to provide further details upon enquiries put forward by our reporter. The room suddenly turned rowdy.
The minister’s media team did not present any new evidence to counter PREMIUM TIMES investigations into the controversy. Journalists were also given limited opportunity to ask questions before the briefing ended abruptly.