Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has called on the police to investigate the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, over allegations of certificate forgery.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Effiong said the inconsistencies in the minister’s academic records and the conflicting statements from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the minister himself required urgent attention.
He expressed shock that such alleged irregularities escaped scrutiny during Nnaji’s screening before appointment.
“How did all these things escape the scrutiny of the Nigerian State Security Service?” Effiong asked on the show.
“As I speak to you, the State Security Service has maintained a conspiratorial silence. It is a conspiracy,” he added.
The lawyer described the allegations as “grave” and urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend Nnaji pending investigation.
“This minister must be immediately suspended pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“He has to surrender himself to the police for investigation for forgery; otherwise, they will be telling Nigerians that we are running a government of certificate forgers and criminality,” he insisted.
Effiong added that while the allegations remain unproven, the government must show readiness to investigate them thoroughly.
“We cannot have a minister of innovation whose innovation is now being linked to alleged certificate forgery.
“This is an embarrassment to our country, and President Tinubu has an opportunity to prove that he is not running a cartel but a government that respects the law,” the lawyer said.
Nnaji had been accused of allegedly presenting forged academic and NYSC certificates.
Reacting to the controversy, one of his aides, Robert Ngwu, dismissed the forgery claims as false and politically motivated.
“Let it be on record that the Minister, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, graduated from UNN in 1985. The university officially confirmed this in writing in December 2023.
“It’s reflected in his 1985 convocation brochure, which remains part of UNN’s permanent archives. Any other claim or document to the contrary is false, malicious, and politically motivated,” the aide said.
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