PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has accepted the resignation of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, following a storm of controversy surrounding allegations of certificate forgery and academic misrepresentation.
The development comes barely 48 hours after News Point Nigeria exclusively reported that Nnaji was on the verge of resigning after court documents and official records from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) disowned the degree certificate he claimed to possess.
Confirming the development on Tuesday, the Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the President had accepted Nnaji’s resignation “in good faith” and thanked him for his service to the nation.
According to Onanuga, Nnaji’s resignation letter, dated October 7, 2025, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu “for the opportunity to serve” and claimed that he had become “a target of blackmail by political opponents.” The President, in turn, wished him success in his future endeavours.
The resignation follows months of escalating controversy over Nnaji’s academic records. The minister, appointed in August 2023, became the subject of public scrutiny after media investigation revealed discrepancies in his claimed academic qualifications.
In court filings before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Nnaji admitted under oath that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the institution he claimed to have attended never issued him a degree certificate.
In paragraphs 12 and 13 of his 34-paragraph verifying affidavit, Nnaji acknowledged that although he was admitted to study Microbiology/Biochemistry in 1981 and “completed the programme” in 1985, he “never collected any certificate from the university.”
“That even though I am yet to collect my certificate from the 3rd Defendant (UNN), due largely to the non-cooperative attitude of the 3rd–5th Defendants (UNN, its Vice-Chancellor, and Registrar)…,” he stated in the sworn affidavit.
The controversy deepened when the University of Nigeria, in an official letter dated October 3, 2025, and signed by its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, categorically denied that Nnaji graduated from the institution.
“From every available record, we are unable to confirm that Mr. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985. Consequently, the University of Nigeria DID NOT and COULD NOT have issued the purported certificate in July 1985 to Mr. Nnaji,” the university stated.
This official position contradicted an earlier December 2023 communication from the university’s Registrar, Mrs. Celine Nnebedum, who initially affirmed that Nnaji graduated in 1985 but later recanted, admitting that no such record existed in the university’s graduation list.
“It is either some people in the records office were influenced or it was a sincere mistake by the registry,” a senior UNN official later told reporters, hinting at possible internal manipulation.
In his bid to prevent the release of his academic records to the public, Nnaji had filed a suit seeking to restrain the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the University of Nigeria from “tampering with” or disclosing his student records.
However, in her ruling on September 22, 2025, Justice Yilwa declined his request for injunctive reliefs, effectively rejecting the minister’s attempt to block public access to his academic file.
“Having been refused, granting reliefs 1–3 shall not serve as injunctive reliefs against any of the parties,” she ruled, thereby paving the way for the university to release his records.
Before Nnaji’s resignation, a source in the Presidency told News Point Nigeria that President Tinubu had directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and two senior security chiefs to investigate the matter and submit a comprehensive report.
“The President was embarrassed by the revelations and wanted to be fully briefed before taking a final decision,” the source disclosed.
Nnaji’s resignation appears to have pre-empted that process.
Chief Uche Nnaji, a businessman and politician from Enugu State, was appointed Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology in August 2023.
His tenure, which lasted just over a year, was marked by modest administrative reforms within the ministry before being overshadowed by the certificate scandal.
He has now joined the growing list of public officials whose careers have been derailed by controversies over questionable academic credentials.
See below link of News Point Nigeria‘s story on the minister’s resignation yesterday:
Forgery: Science Minister To Resign As UNN Disowns Degree Certificate, Court Denies Bid To Withhold Records