The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, has admitted that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), never issued him a degree certificate.
This admission, contained in court filings, aligns with a two-year investigation by PREMIUM TIMES which had earlier reported that the UNN did not issue the credentials he submitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Senate during his ministerial confirmation.
Allegations of certificate forgery have followed Mr. Nnaji since July 2023 when he was first nominated for a ministerial position.
Critics had alleged that he did not complete his university education and that both the bachelor’s degree and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate he presented to various government agencies were forged.
Read Also: He Did Not Graduate – UNN Disowns Minister Uche Nnaji’s Degree Certificate
Mr. Nnaji confirmed for the first time that UNN never issued him any certificate in the verifying affidavit for a suit he instituted against the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), UNN, and its officials.
In the suit before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Mr. Nnaji sought prerogative writs to prohibit UNN and its officials from “tampering with” his academic records and to compel them to release his academic transcript.
In his affidavit, the Minister made a “stunning revelation” in paragraphs 12 and 13:
- He stated in paragraph 12 that he was admitted in 1981 and “graduated” in 1985.
- However, he made the “explosive admission” in paragraph 13: “That even though I am yet to collect my certificate from the 3rd Defendant (UNN), due largely to the non-cooperative attitude of the 3rd–5th Defendants (UNN, its Vice-Chancellor, and Registrar), the 3rd Defendant issued a letter dated 21st December 2023 to People’s Gazette… which stated amongst other things as follows: ‘…Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology/Biochemistry, Second Class (Hons.) Lower Division.’ ”
While the letter he quoted was earlier issued by the then-Registrar, Celine Nnebedum, its contents have since been invalidated. Mrs. Nnebedum later “recanted” in May 2025 to the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), stating that his name was not found in the 1985 graduation records.
Similarly, the current UNN Vice-Chancellor, Simon Ortuanya, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on October 3, 2025, that Mr. Nnaji “did not complete his studies” and was never awarded a degree.
The Minister’s admission that the UNN never issued him a degree certificate raises crucial questions, including: “If the UNN did not issue him a certificate, where and how did he obtain the degree document he submitted to Nigerian authorities? And if he never earned a degree, how did he qualify for the NYSC programme?”
The paper noted that ahead of his confirmation hearing, Mr. Nnaji submitted a profile document to the Senate claiming to have earned a combined degree from UNN and attached copies of a supposed UNN Bachelor of Science degree and his purported NYSC Certificate of National Service.
The status of these two documents has been the core focus of the investigation.
Mr. Nnaji declined to speak directly to PREMIUM TIMES on the matter, ignoring multiple written and verbal inquiries.
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