THE controversy surrounding the academic credentials of Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, took a dramatic turn on Monday as his camp accused Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, of masterminding a smear campaign against him, an allegation the governor swiftly denied.
News Point Nigeria reports that addressing journalists in Abuja, Nnaji’s media aide, Robert Ngwu, described the widespread forgery allegations against the minister as a politically motivated witch-hunt allegedly orchestrated by Governor Mbah to tarnish his principal’s reputation.
Ngwu dismissed reports that the minister forged his University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates, saying, “All these sponsored events are being coordinated by Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State. The governor has given a new name to all his problems, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji.”
He further alleged that the Enugu governor views Nnaji as a stumbling block to his rumoured political plans, including a possible defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Ngwu, Nnaji had already applied for his academic transcript from UNN to prove his innocence but the university allegedly refused to release it despite a court order.
“He applied for his transcript so that it becomes clear to everyone because it is the ultimate. Even with a court order, they have not seen reason to release his transcript,” Ngwu said, alleging that the minister’s file was being kept “under lock and key” in the Vice-Chancellor’s office.
Ngwu also explained that discrepancies between the names “Uche Nnaji” and “Nnaji Uchenna” were culturally explainable, insisting that both names are variations of the same meaning in Igbo culture and do not amount to forgery.
He maintained that Nnaji graduated from UNN in 1985, citing a letter from the university in December 2023 confirming the minister’s completion of studies.
The controversy deepened after an investigative report by Premium Times alleged that the minister submitted forged academic and NYSC certificates to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Senate during his ministerial screening in 2023.
According to the report, the UNN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, stated in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated October 2, 2025, that although Nnaji was admitted in 1981, “he did not complete his studies and was never awarded a degree.”
This contradicted an earlier letter issued in December 2023 by UNN Registrar, Celine Nnebedum, confirming that Nnaji graduated in 1985. However, the university reportedly retracted that position in May 2025 before the Public Complaints Commission, saying a fresh search of graduation records for that year did not include Nnaji’s name.
Court documents seen by journalists also revealed that Nnaji admitted under oath that the university never issued him any degree certificate and that he had “never collected one.”
In reaction, the embattled minister has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), UNN, and its Vice-Chancellor, seeking an injunction to prevent the university from tampering with his records.
The case came up for hearing on Monday, with Sebastian Hon (SAN) appearing for Nnaji and E.M. Asogwa representing UNN and its officials. The first and second respondents the Minister of Education and the NUC were not represented.
In a swift and scathing rebuttal, the Enugu State Government denied the allegations, warning the minister to “carry his own cross.”
The state’s Director of Information, Chukwuemeka Nebo, said: “The Enugu State Government dissociates itself completely from these allegations. The honourable minister must clear his name before Nigerians instead of dragging the government into issues that are entirely personal to him.”
Nebo faulted the minister’s decision to send aides to address the media rather than personally face journalists to clear his name.
“A large number of journalists gathered at the minister’s invitation expecting him to answer questions. But he absconded and sent proxies who could not respond to basic inquiries,” Nebo said.
He listed several questions that, according to him, the public expects Nnaji to answer including whether he presented a UNN degree certificate to the Senate, why he reapplied to retake failed courses after the claimed graduation date, and why his NYSC discharge certificate bore questionable features.
Among Nebo’s queries were inconsistencies in the NYSC document, including an “unusual 13-month duration” of service and the use of a serial number format inconsistent with NYSC conventions at the time.
“If he truly has nothing to hide, let him appear before the media and provide evidence rather than hiding behind surrogates,” Nebo added.