Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, has resigned from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, effective immediately, following a damning two-year investigation that exposed alleged forgeries in his academic and national service credentials.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga confirmed the move in a statement Tuesday, noting Tinubu’s acceptance after Nnaji tendered his resignation letter earlier in the day, thanking the president for the “privilege to serve.”
The departure, coming just days after PREMIUM TIMES published its exhaustive report, caps a saga that began in July 2023 during Nnaji’s Senate screening as part of Tinubu’s first batch of 28 ministerial nominees.
The probe revealed discrepancies in the BSc Microbiology/Biochemistry certificate Nnaji claimed from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1985, and his 1986 NYSC discharge certificate.
UNN Vice-Chancellor Prof. Simon Ortuanya stated in an October 2 letter that Nnaji, admitted in 1981 (matric No. 1981/30725), “did not complete his studies and was never awarded a degree,” contradicting a 2023 university confirmation later recanted in May 2025.
NYSC authorities similarly disavowed the discharge certificate, citing an anachronistic signature from a director who took office in 1988.
Nnaji, 62, vehemently denied the allegations, blaming Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah for a “politically motivated witch-hunt” to discredit him ahead of Mbah’s rumoured APC defection.