Peter Obi Reacts as Investigation Reveals Serial Certificate Forger in Tinubu’s Cabinet
- Presidential hopeful Peter Obi has said Nigeria must deal with certificate forgery holistically "with the seriousness and level of criminality it deserves"
- Amid minister Uche Nnaji's indictment for certificate forgery, the opposition leader said criminal offences should not be dismissed as a mere procedural matter
- Obi urged Nigerian leaders to, as a matter of obligation, "end the era where forgery and deceit are rewarded with power"
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria.
FCT, Abuja - Ahead of the 2027 elections, Peter Obi has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has enough time to investigate past complaints about various forms of forgery and false claims.
Legit.ng reports that Obi tasked Nigerian authorities on electoral amendments, saying it "must include that anyone intending to contest for any public office, whether an incumbent or a new candidate, must submit all academic certificates to the electoral body immediately after party primaries, at least six months before the election."
Source: Twitter
Uche Nnaji embroiled in certificate scandal
A recent investigation by Premium Times revealed that Uche Nnaji, the minister of science, technology and innovation, forged the credentials he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian senate during his ministerial confirmation.
Allegations of certificate forgery have dogged Nnaji since July 2023 when Tinubu named him among the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees from 25 states forwarded to the senate as part of the president’s initial cabinet list, two months after taking office on May 29, 2023.
Critics have long insisted that Nnaji did not complete his university education and that both the bachelor’s degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate he presented to President Tinubu, as well as to the offices of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the senate, were forged.
Premium Times said its probe of Nnaji's documents were incriminating and conclusive: both the degree certificate and the NYSC discharge certificate in the minister’s possession are outright forgeries.
On Sunday, October 5, it emerged that Nnaji confirmed that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) never issued him any certificate.
By admitting that UNN never issued him a degree certificate, Nnaji has effectively confessed to forging his degree and NYSC credentials he presented in 2023 for his ministerial appointment.
Following the investigation, Nigerians expressed outrage, saying the minister should be arrested and prosecuted.
It would be recalled that allegations that Nnaji's principal, President Tinubu's certificates were faked went viral on social media following the release by Chicago State University (CSU) of his academic records in 2023. However, a BBC probe concluded that there was no evidence that Tinubu forged his college record.
Reacting to accusations of certificate hoax sometimes levelled against Nigerian politicians, Obi asserted that "certificate forgery is one of the most corrupt practices heavily punished."
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election wrote on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday morning, October 6:
"Certificate forgery is a serious criminal offence in all countries of the world.
"In one of my knowledge-seeking visits to Indonesia early this year, after interacting with several ministers responsible for Health, Villages, SMEs, Planning, and Education, as well as the Vice President and President Joko Widodo on development, I met with the Chairman of the General Elections Commission of Indonesia. I asked him about the educational qualifications required to participate in elections from local government to the state legislature, governorship, and up to the presidential level. He openly stated these qualifications to me.
"My team and I then asked a simple question: What happens if someone contests for public office with a forged certificate or did not attend the school he claimed he attended? He looked at me, surprised and shocked, and said, “That attracts immediate disqualification and prosecution. It is a criminal offence. He added, “If someone can forge a certificate, how can that person be trusted to lead others?” But in my country Nigeria, though the laws are same as in other countries, that forgery is punished by immediate disqualification, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) makes no effort to scrutinise certificates before the elections, over looks complaints of forgery and when you challenged after the elections, court will dismiss the serious criminal issues as "pre-election matters" without giving this criminal act appropriate punishment.
"INEC, even after the elections, does not bother to revisit or investigate these serious offences before the next election."
Source: Facebook
Furthermore, Obi said he is worried that "all these is how criminals and dishonest people scale through all the scrutiny layers -security, parliament and government apparatus set to handle such."
He added:
"Even more disturbing, amounting to double tragedy, is that most of these dishonest people swore to an affidavit before a law court attesting to the authenticity of the documents they presented."
Obi speaks on Tinubu’s university controversy
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Obi made a cryptic reference to President Tinubu's purported drug and identity scandals.
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in Nigeria, the former Anambra state governor explained that people aspiring for political offices must have verifiable certificates.
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Source: Legit.ng
