Court orders ex-minister Uche Nnaji detained for 14 days over certificate forgery
The ICPC secured a 14-day remand warrant to detain former Minister Uche Nnaji over allegations of forging his university degree and NYSC certificates.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has obtained a court warrant to detain former Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, for an initial 14 days, following his arrest on Wednesday over a certificate forgery scandal. The remand warrant allows the ICPC to hold Mr Nnaji for interrogation in the first instance, with the possibility of a further extension.
Mr Nnaji was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from Enugu aboard a chartered flight, and was subsequently handed over to the ICPC. The commission, assisted by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), arrested Mr Nnaji at the Abuja airport. He has been taken into custody at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja, where investigations are continuing.
The ICPC launched a manhunt for Mr Nnaji after the former minister failed to honour invitations extended to him by the anti-graft agency. The ICPC’s invitation followed a two-year investigation which revealed that the then-minister forged his UNN degree and NYSC certificates, which he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.
In mid-June, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the ICPC to arrest Mr Nnaji for investigation into his certificate forgery scandal. The former minister, despite consistently denying the existence of the arrest order, filed an appeal against the order on 18 June at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The winners: the ICPC, which has finally brought a former minister into custody. The losers: Mr Nnaji, whose political career is now in ruins, and the Nigerian government, which had a serial certificate forger in its cabinet for nearly two years.
Bottom Line: A former minister is in detention for forging his degree. The question is how he got into cabinet in the first place.