How The People’s Gazette broke the story of Uche Nnaji certificate forgery June 2024
In the high-stakes world of Nigerian politics, where ministerial appointments often sail through Senate confirmations with little scrutiny, a single investigative report from The People’s Gazette in June 2024 unraveled a web of deception that ultimately forced the resignation of Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, President Bola Tinubu’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology.
The story, built on two years of dogged reporting, revealed forged academic and national service certificates submitted by Nnaji during his 2023 screening, a scandal that exposed systemic lapses in vetting processes and ignited calls for accountability across government institutions.
The Gazette’s bombshell, titled “EXCLUSIVE: How SSS ignored NYSC alert, misled Nigerian Senate to confirm Uche Nnaji as Tinubu’s tech minister with forged national service certificate,” dropped on June 12, 2024. It marked the culmination of an exhaustive probe that began shortly after Nnaji’s nomination in August 2023, blending document analysis, official correspondences, and insider sources to dismantle the minister’s credentials brick by brick.
Nnaji, a 62-year-old Enugu-born entrepreneur and CEO of the software firm Parthian Partners, was thrust into the spotlight as part of Tinubu’s sweeping cabinet reshuffle following his May 2023 inauguration. Touted as a tech visionary with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology/Biochemistry from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and a completed National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) stint, Nnaji breezed through Senate confirmation hearings on August 27, 2023. He dazzled lawmakers with promises of digital innovation, securing a nod for the newly carved Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology.
But cracks appeared early for Gazette reporters, who caught wind of discrepancies in Nnaji’s paperwork through anonymous tips from security circles. “We started with a routine check on his CV,” recalled lead investigator in a follow-up Gazette piece. “What we found wasn’t just an error, it was a pattern of fabrication.” By late 2023, the team had obtained copies of Nnaji’s submitted certificates: a BSc purportedly issued by UNN in 1985 and an NYSC discharge certificate dated 1987, claiming service as a computer analyst.
The probe intensified in early 2024 when the Gazette cross-referenced Nnaji’s documents against official records. A pivotal breakthrough came from the NYSC Directorate, which flagged the minister’s certificate as fraudulent in a confidential alert to the State Security Service (SSS) as early as October 2023 months before his confirmation. Sources within the NYSC told the Gazette that Nnaji’s service timeline was impossible: the discharge certificate listed completion in 1987, but UNN enrollment records showed he hadn’t graduated until 1985, violating mandatory post-graduation service rules.
Undeterred, the SSS allegedly downplayed the red flag, briefing Senate screeners that Nnaji’s background was “clear.” The Gazette’s reporting laid bare this chain of complicity, quoting internal memos obtained under freedom-of-information requests. “The SSS had the alert but chose to bury it,” one document excerpt read, as revealed in the June exposé.
Parallel inquiries into the UNN degree yielded even damlier evidence. In a May 2024 letter—exclusive to the Gazette, UNN’s registrar confirmed Nnaji was admitted in 1981 but withdrew in 1984 after failing multiple courses due to chronic absenteeism. “No degree was awarded to Mr. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji,” the letter stated bluntly. Nnaji’s claim of a 1985 graduation? A mirage, propped up by a forged certificate bearing UNN’s seal, which forensic experts later deemed “crudely altered” using basic editing software.
Nnaji’s initial response was defiance. In a July 2024 press briefing, he dismissed the report as “politically motivated sabotage” by rivals in Enugu State politics, particularly Gov. Peter Mbah, whom he accused of envy over his “self-made success.” “I served NYSC honorably; these are relics of a vindictive past,” Nnaji thundered, vowing legal action against the Gazette.
But momentum shifted. By August 2024, civil society groups filed suits in the Federal High Court in Abuja, citing the Gazette’s documents as primary evidence. In a dramatic September 2025 ruling, Justice Hausa Yilwa dismissed Nnaji’s injunction to block UNN from releasing full records, calling his submissions “riddled with inconsistencies.” The court ordered further probes, amplifying the scandal.
On October 6, 2025, over a year after the exposé, Nnaji tendered his resignation, citing “personal reasons” in a terse statement.
https://x.com/GazetteNGR/status/1975660127291088934