ICPC Witness Tells Court UNN, NYSC Disowned Certificates Linked to Ex-Minister Uche Nnaji

An investigator with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Yakubu Ibrahim, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) denied issuing certificates allegedly presented by former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji.

Ibrahim made the disclosure on Monday while testifying as the first prosecution witness in the alleged certificate forgery case before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. He said the ICPC opened an investigation after receiving two separate petitions accusing the former minister of certificate forgery.

The witness told the court that the commission contacted the National Assembly, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, UNN and the NYSC to authenticate a Bachelor of Science certificate in Microbiology and Biochemistry and an NYSC discharge certificate dated May 15, 1986, allegedly submitted by Nnaji during his ministerial screening in 2023.

Ibrahim said the Clerk of the Senate later forwarded copies of the certificates to the commission. He testified that the NYSC denied issuing the discharge certificate, while UNN also disowned the degree certificate attributed to the former minister.

According to the investigator, UNN supplied Nnaji’s academic records, including a withdrawal notice dated November 7, 1984, reportedly linked to his failure in General Microbiology. He said the university explained that students who failed a course four times were not eligible to graduate.

Ibrahim further told the court that Nnaji failed at two stages of the course and did not sit for the third stage for medical reasons. He added that the former minister subsequently took a supplementary examination for which, according to the university’s records as presented by the witness, he had not registered.

During cross-examination by Nnaji’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Ibrahim acknowledged that he did not visit UNN during the investigation and could not identify where the certificates were allegedly forged. However, he said members of the investigation team interviewed the university registrar. Explaining why the commission did not investigate Nnaji’s place of national service, he told the court: “The NYSC said the certificate was not issued by it, which was why we didn’t inquire where he served.”

Nnaji resigned as minister following the controversy surrounding his academic credentials. He is also seeking the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket for the 2027 Enugu State governorship election. Reports indicate that he did not include the disputed degree certificate in his filing with the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the election. The allegations remain the subject of court proceedings.