President Tinubu thanks him
Following persistent allegations of academic certificate forgery, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji, has tendered his resignation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Accepting the resignation, the President thanked Nnaji for his service to his cabinet so far.
A statement by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga on Tuesday night, gave a terse reason over the controversy.
Onanuga merely said that President Tinubu “has accepted the resignation of Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, the following some allegations against him.
“President Tinubu appointed Nnaji in August 2023.
“He resigned today in a letter thanking the President for allowing him to serve Nigeria.
“Nnaji said he has been a target of blackmail by political opponents.
“President Tinubu thanked him for his service and wished him well in future endeavours.”
Media investigation led by People’s Gazette and Premium Times online newspapers had published stories accusing the former minister of forging a Bachelors Degree Certificate of the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and a Discharge Certificate of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, which he submitted for screening to the Department of State Security (DSS) and other relevant government agencies before he was cleared to secure the ministerial appointment in Tinubu’s cabinet.
The Minister had severally personally and through his aides denied the forgery allegations and even went to court to stop the university from making public his academic record.
The UNN had three times disclaimed the purported degree certificate, insisting it never issues such a certificate as the former minister had a course he failed twice and had not remedied.
But, Nnaji described the university’s position as “blatant blackmail” targeting his future political career.
Recall that the Nigerian media had exposed several top public functionaries with questionable academic credentials, but such personalities had used underhand strategy to cow or silence the media, made worse by the connivance by the relevant government institutions which refused to perform its statutory duty.
During the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, two minister’s: Kemi Adeosun and Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, were embroiled in academic Certificate scandals.
While Adeosun threw in the towel, Shittu stayed put and was neither investigated by the Buhari administration nor was he asked to resign.
