….claims political witch-hunting
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, has resigned from President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday.
Prior to his resignation, there has been controversy trailing his certificate said to be obtained from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State as well as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
While he claimed to have graduated from UNN in 1975, report has it that the citadel of learning could not authenticate that Nnaji scaled through his academic sojourn.
According to a painstaking two-year investigation by PREMIUM TIMES, Nnaji allegedly forged the credentials he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation.
In July 2023 when President Tinubu named him among the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees from 25 states forwarded to the Senate, allegations of certificate forgery have dogged Nnaji since.
Some quarters 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 State Security Service (SSS), and the Senate, were forged.
The online newspaper claimed that the the Vice-Chancellor of UNN, Simon Ortuanya, stated that although Nnaji was admitted to the institution in 1981, he did not complete his studies and was never awarded a degree.
The platform added that authorities at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) also confirmed that the certificate of national service being paraded by Nnaji was strange to it and could not be authenticated.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has accepted the resignation of Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, following some allegations against him.
President Tinubu appointed Nnaji in August 2023.
He resigned today in a letter thanking the President for allowing him to serve Nigeria.
Nnaji said he has been a target of blackmail by political opponents.
President Tinubu thanked him for his service and wished him well in future endeavours.
