Uche Nnaji ‘s Sudden Fall 

The allegations of certificate forgery against the former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji and his subsequent resignation may have dealt a fatal blow to his political career, despite his dismissal of the allegations and his insistence that he duly graduated from the University of Nigeria, Ejiofor Alike reports

The camp of the former Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr. Geoffrey Uche Nnaji in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State was thrown into mourning last Tuesday when news filtered in that President Bola Tinubu had accepted his resignation, following allegations of multiple certificate forgery against him.

Nnaji had been in the eye of the storm, over alleged inconsistencies with his first-degree certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), which he tendered for screening by the National Assembly as a ministerial nominee when Tinubu appointed him in August 2023.

He was alleged not to have completed his university education as both his Bachelor’s degree and NYSC certificates were forged, The Premium Times report showed.

Before Nnaji threw in the towel, his supporters had blamed his travails on the Enugu State Government, which they accused of sponsoring the allegations of certificate forgery against him.

Nnaji and the Enugu State Governor, Mr. Peter Mbah, hail from the same Enugu East Senatorial district.

While the former minister hails from Nkanu West Local Government Area (LGA), the governor hails from Nkanu East LGA.  

However, there is no love lost between these two great sons of Nkanu since the 2023 general election when they contested the governorship election on the platforms of different political parties – Nnaji, on the APC platform, and Mbah, on the PDP platform.

Nnaji demonstrated that he was not a threat to the governor’s political ambition when he came a distant fourth with 14,575 votes, trailing behind Mr. Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who scored 17,983 votes, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP), who polled 157,552 votes, and Mbah, who emerged victorious with 160,895 votes.

However, Nnaji’s political profile rose when he was appointed minister and he became a thorn in the flesh of the governor in a supremacy battle for the control of both Enugu East Senatorial zone and the entire state.

There were speculations that Mbah’s alleged plan to defect to the APC was frustrated by Nnaji who allegedly feared that the governor’s emergence as the APC leader in the state would render him politically impotent.   

His appointment as minister also failed to improve the fortunes of his own party, the APC, in the state as he was also linked to the protracted intra-party crisis, which led to the resignation of the former Chairman of the APC in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, from the party in April this year.

With Nnaji out of the way, the APC has moved to return peace to the party in the state.

Barely two days after he resigned, the ruling party, in its 179th National Working Committee (NWC) meeting last Thursday in Abuja, dissolved the State Working Committee of the party led by Mr. Ugo Agballah, an ally of the former minister, and set up a seven-member caretaker committee headed by Nwoye.

There were speculations that the sack of Nnaji’s loyalists was preparatory to Mbah’s defection to the APC.

With the cat and mouse relationship between the governor and the former minister, it was not surprising that when The Premium Times report cited a letter dated October 2, 2025 by the Vice-Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, indicating that the former minister did not graduate from the university in 1985 as he claimed, Nnaji’s supporters alleged that the state government instigated the vice chancellor.

Mbah was believed to have played a key role in the appointment of Ortuanya, a distinguished legal scholar, as the 16th Vice-Chancellor of the institution in August 2025.

Reacting to the allegations of sponsoring or instigating the allegations of certificate forgery against the former minister, the Enugu State Government had urged him to “carry his cross” and personally clear his name before Nigerians.

A statement issued by the Director of Information in the state Ministry of Information and Communication, Chukwuemeka Nebo, said the state government had no involvement whatsoever in the controversies surrounding his academic record.

The news of Nnaji’s resignation apparently exonerated the Enugu State government with Mbah’s supporters describing it as an admission of guilt.

But the former minister insisted that the decision to step aside was a personal choice and not an admission of guilt.

In a statement he personally signed after leaving office, Nnaji said his resignation was borne out of a principled decision to respect the sanctity of due process and to preserve the integrity of the judicial proceedings currently before the court.

Earlier in the resignation letter, he had also insisted that he had been the target of blackmail by political opponents.

Shortly before he threw in the towel, fresh evidence had emerged confirming that the academic credentials with which he secured his appointment in 2023 could not have been genuine.

A Premium Times investigative report revealed that while he gained admission into UNN in 1981 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry, he dropped out without completing his studies.

But he claimed to have graduated from the institution with Second-Class Honours, Lower Division, in July 1985.

An October 2, 2025 letter by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ortuanya, in response to Premium Times’ Freedom of Information request, showed that Nnaji did not return to complete his university education.

With his reputation badly damaged and his political opponents now in charge of the APC in Enugu State, Nnaji’s resignation and the allegations against him may have sounded the death knell for his political career.

His current travails may also be worsened by the growing calls for the investigation of the allegations and his prosecution.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have all urged the federal government to launch a thorough investigation into allegations against him.

The former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, who has hailed his resignation, describing the alleged offence as a criminal one, had earlier called for stronger rules and punishment for public officials who use fake certificates.

President of NBA, Afam Osigwe (SAN) described the allegations as “grave” and urged law enforcement agencies to act without delay.

On his part, Atiku, who berated the Tinubu-led federal government for allegedly deploying corruption and forgery as state policy, also called for investigations into the allegations against Nnaji.

On its part, the ADC also tackled Tinubu for accepting his resignation “instead of taking a tougher stance gives the unfortunate impression that the President is sympathetic to such behaviour.”

In a statement, ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said a government that upholds integrity cannot afford to treat criminal conduct like a personal matter.

With these stringent calls for his investigation, it is believed that Nnaji will have his days in court in the coming months.