UNN Denies Authenticity of Minister Uche Nnaji’s Certificate

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has once again disclaimed the Bachelor of Science degree certificate held by Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology Uche Nnaji.

MrNnaji presented this invalid certificate among his credentials to support his 2023 ministerial appointment.

In a new letter dated October 6 (Tuesday) and signed by Senior Deputy Registrar (Records) F.C. Achiuwa, on behalf of UNN’s Registrar, Celine Nnebedum, the university reiterated its distance from the certificate in response to PREMIUM TIMES’ separate Freedom of Information (FoI) request.

This latest letter followed a similar response from the vice-chancellor to a different FoI inquiry from this newspaper just four days earlier.

Reaffirming Vice-Chancellor Simon Ortuanya’s previous correspondence dated October 2, the Registrar’s office maintained that while MrNnaji was admitted to the university in 1981, he did not graduate or receive any certificate.

“We wish to inform Premium Times that while he (Nnaji) was admitted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1981, our search of the University of Nigeria graduation records for the 1985 session revealed no record of MrNnaji Geoffrey Uchechukwu’s name,” the registrar’s office stated.

The official emphasised that “there is no indication” that the minister’s degree certificate was issued by the University of Nigeria.”

This letter serves as the latest confirmation of PREMIUM TIMES’ findings from a two-year investigation into MrNnaji’s credentials. This newspaper published an investigative report on Saturday, revealing that the minister had forged both his UNN bachelor’s degree and national youth service certificates, which he submitted to obtain his ministerial position.

UNN Denies Authenticity of Minister Uche Nnaji’s Certificate

The vice-chancellor of UNN, MrOrtuanya, who took office in August, similarly responded to PREMIUM TIMES’ information request on 2 October, distancing himself from the bachelor’s degree certificate presented by MrNnaji for his 2023 appointment.

MrOrtuanya stated that based on all available records and information from the university, “We are unable to verify that MrGeoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, who is currently the Minister of Science and Technology, graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985, as there are no records indicating his completion of studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.”

“As a result, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, DID NOT and therefore COULD NOT have issued the alleged certificate to Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji in July 1985.”

Along with his reply, Mr Ortuanya provided PREMIUM TIMES with an earlier letter dated 13 May 2025 from the university registrar, which was addressed to the Public Complaints Commission, stating that “there is no evidence that the certificate was issued by the University of Nigeria.”

Currently, there have been three letters from the university since May that consistently contradict a previous response made to the People’s Gazette regarding this issue. On 21 December 2023, Celine Nnebedum, the university registrar, replied to the newspaper’s inquiry, asserting that Mr Nnaji graduated from the institution in July 1985.

The official has since retracted that assertion in a letter sent by her office to the Public Complaints Commission in May and in the most recent correspondence sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

The reason PREMIUM TIMES received two confirmations
PREMIUM TIMES sent distinct FoI request letters to both the vice-chancellor and registrar of UNN on 29 September.

This strategy was adopted based on lessons learnt from our initial attempts to secure official information regarding Mr Nnaji’s certificate from the university during our two-year investigation into the minister’s academic qualifications.

Instead of addressing our first enquiries, the university officials ignored our reporters and shifted responsibility among themselves.

We initially submitted a Freedom of Information request to the university on February 1, 2024. However, officials did not respond to our inquiry despite multiple reminders and follow-up visits from our reporter to the institution. During one of these visits, a member of the registry insisted that our reporter pay a processing fee of N15,000. Although we complied, we still did not receive a response to our request.

On September 29, we sent separate letters to both the university’s registrar and the vice-chancellor, hoping for a different outcome.

The vice-chancellor was the first to respond to our correspondence on October 2, followed by the registrar’s reply on October 6, which confirmed that the minister had not completed his studies at the university and had not been issued a certificate.

Findings from the PREMIUM TIMES investigation
Allegations regarding Mr Nnaji’s certificate forgery have circulated since July 2023, when President Tinubu nominated him, along with other candidates, to the Senate for confirmation.

Critics have consistently claimed that Mr Nnaji did not finish his university education and that the bachelor’s degree and NYSC certificate he submitted 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 falsified.

A thorough investigation lasting two years, published by PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, disclosed that Mr Nnaji fabricated the credentials he provided to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.

The report specifically detailed how the minister created fake degrees and NYSC certificates.

This newspaper reported on Sunday that the minister acknowledged that he was never issued a degree certificate by UNN.

Many Nigerians have expressed their anger regarding the minister’s certificate forgery.

On Monday, Mr Nnaji missed a press conference organised by his office to discuss the situation. However, his aides attended in his place and made claims that were not backed up by evidence, including the assertion that the minister had indeed graduated from UNN.

PREMIUM TIMES subsequently released documents indicating that when Mr Nnaji asserted he had graduated from UNN and had supposedly completed the mandatory national youth service, he was still in communication with the institution regarding the possibility of retaking a failed final course exam.

In an attempt to deflect attention, Robert Ngwu, the spokesperson for the troubled minister, inaccurately accused PREMIUM TIMES of accepting N100 million in bribes from the Enugu State Government during an appearance on Channels Television on Tuesday morning.