Court Delays Uche Nnaji's Case Over Fake Certificates

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday postponed a case filed by former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, against the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and others until 15 February 2027.

Mr Nnaji filed the case to stop UNN from answering questions from PREMIUM TIMES and other media about his questionable qualifications.

On 7 October last year, this newspaper released a thorough investigation that showed the former minister faked his UNN degree and NYSC certificates. He submitted these documents to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation in 2023.

Mr Nnaji resigned as minister three days after the report came out. He was later arrested and faced six charges of certificate forgery and money laundering in the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Court Session

During the hearing of the civil suit, Justice Hauwa Yilwa postponed the case because the lawyer for the Minister of Education was not present in court.

Mr Nnaji's lawyer, Akintola Makinde, told the court that the Minister of Education was not represented.

Mr Makinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also mentioned a pending motion to regularise the processes filed in the case. He added that their records showed that hearing notices had been sent to the involved parties.

Chris Uche, who represented the 3rd to 7th respondents, reminded the court that it had approved part of an earlier application to regularise their processes on 8 January, but the second request was still unresolved.

Adjournment Details

Mr Uche, also a SAN, asked the court to consider the necessary processes as officially served.

Justice Yilwa confirmed that while she agreed to the first request in the application, she had not granted the second one yet.

Mr Uche assured that any other pending issues would be handled administratively. By agreement of all parties, the judge postponed the matter until 15 February 2027 for hearing.

Uche Nnaji's Requests

Mr Nnaji filed a special motion supporting his case. He asked for an order allowing him to issue writs to stop the university and its officials from changing or interfering with his academic records.

The former minister also wanted permission to issue a writ of mandamus to force the university and its officials to give him his academic transcript. He urged the Minister of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to use their powers to make UNN comply.

He also asked for a temporary injunction to stop UNN and its officials from altering his academic records until the case is resolved.

Defendants' Objections

In their preliminary objection, the 1st to 7th defendants asked the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.

They sought an order to award significant costs in favor of the 3rd, 4th, and 6th defendants.

They argued that Mr Nnaji's special motion was not filed within three months of the events in question. They said this went against Order 34 Rule 4(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and Section 2 (a) of the Public Officers Protection Act 2004, making the case invalid and taking away the court's jurisdiction.

They claimed the motion for prerogative orders was incorrectly filed as a motion on notice instead of an originating motion, as required under Order 34 Rule 5 (1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.

They stated that the application was invalid, premature, and lacked proper evidence of a request or denial regarding academic records prior to the start of the case.

The defendants argued that the court had no jurisdiction to handle matters about academic records, results, or transcripts. They maintained that the issue did not arise from the management of any agency listed in Section 251(1) of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

They also pointed out that internal remedies had not been exhausted and claimed that Mr Nnaji's rights had not been violated. They argued that no reasonable cause of action was shown against the 3rd to 7th respondents, particularly the 4th respondent, Simon Ortuanya, who acted only in his official capacity as vice-chancellor of UNN.

Background Information

In October 2023, PREMIUM TIMES began looking into Mr Nnaji's academic records. The former minister had submitted his degree and NYSC certificates to President Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation, claiming he graduated from UNN in 1985.

Feeling the heat from the investigation, Mr Nnaji filed the case in the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop UNN and its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, from disclosing his academic records.

Other defendants included the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the university’s registrar, its former Acting Vice-Chancellor, Oguejiofo Ujam, a professor, and the University Senate.

Before Mr Nnaji could get a court order, Mr Ortuanya had already replied to a PREMIUM TIMES Freedom of Information (FOI) request, confirming that Mr Nnaji had faked his UNN degree certificate.

The university registrar later confirmed this, stating that although Mr Nnaji was admitted in 1981, he neither graduated nor received a certificate.

NYSC officials also denied the discharge certificate in Mr Nnaji's possession after a separate FOI request.

Mr Nnaji resigned three days after the investigation was published. In March, this newspaper reported that an investigative panel set up by the Minister of Education, Mr Alausa, confirmed that Mr Nnaji faked his certificates.

Later, Mr Nnaji switched from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In late May, he became the governorship candidate of the Nyesom Wike-backed PDP faction for the 2027 elections.

Reports suggest that Mr Nnaji is seeking the governorship to avoid prosecution.

In mid-June, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the ICPC to arrest Mr Nnaji. Despite denying the existence of the order, he appealed it on 18 June at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

But the ICPC arrested him anyway. The anti-graft agency is currently prosecuting the former minister for certificate forgery and money laundering at the Federal High Court in Abuja.