Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, has fired back at allegations of certificate forgery, accusing Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah of engineering the claims as a desperate bid to clear his path to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a worded statement issued through his spokesperson, Dr. Robert Ngwu, from Abuja on Monday, Nnaji described the controversy as a “witch-hunt” designed to discredit him amid Mbah’s rumoured defection ambitions.
“Mbah wants Nnaji out of his way. He has given a new name to all his problems. He is seeking a second term in office, and the only way to achieve this is to get Nnaji out of the way. He wants to join APC, but knowing that Nnaji is there, he is not comfortable,” Ngwu alleged.
The feud escalated after an online news platform last week published claims that Nnaji had submitted a forged University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) certificate to President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly during his 2023 ministerial screening. The report alleged discrepancies in Nnaji’s academic records, sparking widespread debate on social media and calls for investigation.
Nnaji, a former UNN alumnus, swiftly dismissed the accusations as baseless and politically engineered. Through Ngwu, he called on UNN’s leadership to defend the institution’s integrity against what he termed “partisan manipulation.”
“This is not just about one man’s academic record; it is about protecting truth, preserving institutional honour, and ensuring that no university in Nigeria becomes a pawn in partisan politics,” the minister stated.
At the heart of Nnaji’s defense is a December 21, 2023, letter from UNN, issued during his Senate confirmation hearings.
The document, Ngwu emphasized, unequivocally verifies Nnaji’s credentials: “Mr. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, with registration number 1981/30725, was admitted in 1981 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry and graduated in July 1985 with a Bachelor of Science, Second Class (Honours) Lower Division.”
This confirmation, he noted, is corroborated by the university’s 1985 convocation brochure and remains the sole official record from UNN on the matter.
However, the plot thickened in May 2025 when a second letter purportedly from UNN surfaced, contradicting the earlier one by claiming no records existed of Nnaji’s graduation. Ngwu branded this document a fabrication, pinning it on “political interference” orchestrated by Governor Mbah.
He went further, alleging that UNN’s Vice Chancellor—a self-professed lawyer and “card-carrying member” of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—was acting under Mbah’s directives to sabotage the minister’s reputation.
“This entire issue is not about education or integrity but about political desperation disguised as academic inquiry,” Ngwu charged.
“The timing, the sources, the false documents, and the paid narratives all point to a coordinated campaign to drag a reputable public servant into the mud of partisan politics.”