The findings of the federal government’s panel on Mr. Nnaji has confirmed the
then-minister’s certificate forgery scandal.
The immediate past Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji,
indeed forged his University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) degree certificate, an
investigative panel set up by Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has
found.
According to a Premium Times report, the seven-member panel was constituted on
23 November 2025 in response to Mr Nnaji’s petition to the education minister
following a painstaking two-year investigation.
The panel submitted its detailed report to the education minister in December
2025.
In the petition dated 14 October 2025, Mr Nnaji alleged unethical disclosure,
document tampering, and political manipulation of his academic records by senior
officials of UNN.
The former minister also accused the UNN Vice-Chancellor, Simon Ortuanya, and
a former Acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Oguejiofor Ujam, of “issuing
forged or unauthorised correspondence, improperly accessing his academic file,
and facilitating media publications that misrepresented his academic history.”
The probe panel was led by the Director of the University Education Department in
the ministry, Rakiya Gambo Ilyasu, while James Ocheido, the deputy director of
the department, served as secretary.
Other members of the panel were: the Director of Polytechnics and Allied
Institutions Department in the ministry, Ejeh. A. U; his counterpart in the
ministry’s Colleges of Education Department, U. C. Uba; and a representative of
the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC),
Mohammed Ayuba.
The Director of Human Resources Unit of the education ministry, Yusuf Saeed, and
his counterpart in the ministry’s Legal Services Unit, Foluso Akinlonu, were also
members of the panel.
The panel said it adopted “documentary review, interviews, verification, and
technical audit as its methodological approach” to the investigation, adding that
during the investigation, members physically visited UNN, engaged with the
institution’s officials—including its vice-chancellor and former acting vice-
chancellor—and reviewed necessary documents and the university records.
The UNN officials interviewed during the investigation were the university’s Vice-
Chancellor, Professor Ortuanya; a former Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ujam;
the Registrar, Celine Nnebedum; Records Unit officials; and other staff members
involved in handling academic records.
The panel said that during the investigation, it also accessed and inspected Mr
Nnaji’s academic files and internal correspondence – including the 2023 and 2025
letters issued by UNN.
It added that it examined UNN’s historic academic records, registry movement
logs, Senate lists, convocation archives, electronic access logs, and other relevant
documentation, including Mr Nnaji’s transcript request, as well as verification of
the provenance and authenticity of letters issued to media organisations and
government agencies by the university.
“The members of the panel arrived (UNN) in Nsukka on Sunday, 23rd November
- On Monday, 24th November, the panel paid a courtesy visit to the Vice
Chancellor, Prof Simon Ortuanya and informed him of the purpose of the visit and
proceeded to the venue the university provided for the panel to use,” the report
stated.
In the federal government panel report, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM
TIMES, investigators said they conducted “a thorough review of the Senate-
approved graduation list of 1985 and the personal student file” of Mr Nnaji and
found, among others, that his name was not in the graduation list in the 1985 set.
The panel said it obtained “several correspondences” dated from 8 November 1985
to 19 May 1986 between Mr Nnaji and the Registry Department of the university
regarding his failed course MCB 431 – Virology, which were documented from
pages 69 to 55 of the former minister’s academic file.
It added that Mr Nnaji, in his handwritten correspondence dated 19 May 1986 and
titled “Application to take course, 431AB in September,” explained that he could
not write the exam scheduled for 21 April 1986 due to ill health, and attached a
supporting medical report.
“The panel was unable to find any record of him (Nnaji) having taken the failed
course,” the report further read.
The panel then wondered how Mr Nnaji obtained the “purported certificate of
graduation” dated July 1985, which he submitted to President Bola Tinubu for
appointment and to the National Assembly for his ministerial confirmation.
