Peter Obi reacts to PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation on minister’s certificate forgery
The 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has reacted to the PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation exposing how Uche Nnaji forged his degree and NYSC certificates.
The investigation
A painstaking two-year investigation published by PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday revealed that Mr Nnaji forged the credentials he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.
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 both the bachelor’s degree and National Youth Service Corps (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 minister has admitted that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) never issued him a degree certificate.
Many Nigerians have expressed outrage over the minister’s certificate forgery.
Peter Obi speaks
Reacting in a post on his X handle on Monday, Mr Obi claimed that those who are part of criminality in Nigeria often attack him whenever he mentions that the country is “a crime scene.”
The former governor of Anambra State expressed disappointment that some Nigerian leaders who are supposed to set good examples have become the “very source of the nation’s decay.”
“How do you tell young Nigerians to be honest and upright when those they are supposed to emulate are the least to be emulated because they are criminals and dishonest?” he wrote in apparent reference to the certificate forgery by the minister.
“Certificate forgery is a serious criminal offence in all countries of the world. It is one of the most corrupt practices heavily punished.”
Nigeria vs Indonesia scenarios
Mr Obi recalled that during his visits early this year to Indonesia, he had interacted with some of the country’s officials.
The former governor said during such interactions with the chairperson of the General Elections Commission of Indonesia, he had asked the election official the
educational qualifications required for various elective positions in the country which the official listed.
He narrated that he further asked the official the implications for officials who contested in an election with forged certificates or did not attend schools they claimed to have attended.
Mr Obi narrated: “He (the official) looked at me, surprised and shocked, and said, ‘That attracts immediate disqualification and prosecution. It is a criminal offence. If someone can forge a certificate, how can that person be trusted to lead others?’”
The LP candidate argued that although Nigeria has similar laws, the country’s electoral body, INEC, does not scrutinise certificates before the elections.
“(INEC) overlooks complaints of forgery and when challenged after the elections, the court will dismiss the serious criminal issues as ‘pre-election matters’ without giving this criminal act appropriate punishment,” he said.
“INEC, even after the elections, does not bother to revisit or investigate these serious offences before the next election.”
The former governor said another concerning issue was how “criminals and dishonest people” scale through all the scrutiny layers, including security, parliament and government apparatus.
“Even more disturbing, amounting to double tragedy, is that most of these dishonest people swore 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,” he said.
Ahead of 2027 elections
Mr Obi said, ahead of the 2027 general election, Nigeria must amend its electoral laws to include mandatory submission of all academic certificates by all contestants for any elective office 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,” he stated.
“We must deal with certificate forgery holistically with the seriousness and level of criminality it deserves. Criminal offences should not be dismissed as a mere procedural matter.”