Certificate Forgery: Court adjourns ex-minister Uche Nnaji’s suit

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

Mr Nnaji had filed the suit to block UNN from responding to enquiries from PREMIUM TIMES and other media outfits about the then-minister’s discredited credentials.

This newspaper, on 7 October last year, published a painstaking 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.

Mr Nnaji, who resigned as minister three days after the publication, was subsequently arrested and arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a six-count charge of certificate forgery and money laundering.

Adjournment

At the resumed hearing on the civil suit, Justice Hauwa Yilwa adjourned the case following the absence of counsel for the 1st respondent (Minister of Education) in court.

Counsel to Mr Nnaji, Akintola Makinde, informed the court that the 1st respondent was not represented.

Mr Makinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also drew the court’s attention to a pending motion seeking to regularise the processes filed in the matter, adding that their records indicated that hearing notices had been served on the parties.

But Chris Uche, who appeared for the 3rd to 7th respondents, recalled that the court had granted part of an earlier application seeking to regularise their processes on 8 January, while the second prayer remained unresolved.

Mr Uche, also a SAN, then urged the court to deem the relevant processes as duly served.

In response, Justice Yilwa acknowledged that although she granted the first prayer in the application, she had yet to grant the second relief.

Mr Uche then assured that other outstanding issues would be addressed administratively.

By the consent of the parties, the judge adjourned the matter until 15 February 2027 for hearing.

Uche Nnaji’s prayers

Mr Nnaji had filed an ex-parte motion in support of the suit in which he sought an order granting him leave to issue prerogative writs prohibiting the university and its officials from “tampering with” or continuing to “tamper with” his academic records, among others.

The then-minister also sought leave to issue a prerogative writ of mandamus compelling the university and its officials to release his academic transcript to him, and asked the minister of education and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to exercise their supervisory powers to compel UNN to do so.

He equally sought an interim injunction restraining UNN and its officials from “tampering” with his academic records pending the determination of the substantive suit, among others.

Preliminary objection

However, in their preliminary objection, the 1st to 7th defendants, prayed the court to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction.

They also sought an order awarding substantial costs in favour of the 3rd, 4th and 6th defendants.

In a nine-ground argument, they said the motion ex-parte for leave was not filed within three months of the occurrence of the subject matter.

They argued that this was contrary to 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, which rendered the entire proceedings incompetent and robbed the court of jurisdiction.

“The substantive motion for prerogative orders was wrongly brought by motion on notice instead of an originating motion as required under Order 34Rule 5 (1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.

“The application is incompetent, premature, speculative with there being no prior request or denial of release of academic records or any evidence of interference with the applicant’s academic records prior to the commencement of this action,” they said.

They equally argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain “matters concerning student academic records, examinations, results and transcripts.”

They contended that the matter does not arise from the administration or management of any agency within the exclusive jurisdiction as specified in Section 251(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

They further argued that the internal remedy had not been exhausted and that the applicants’ fundamental rights had not been breached.

Besides, they said no reasonable cause of action was disclosed against the 3rd to 7th respondents, particularly the 4th respondent, Simon Ortuanya, who acted solely in his official capacity as vice-chancellor of UNN, among others.

Background

In October 2023, PREMIUM TIMES began investigating Mr Nnaji’s academic records.

The then-minister had submitted his degree and NYSC certificates to President Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during his ministerial confirmation. He claimed he obtained a degree from UNN in 1985.

Disturbed by the scrutiny, Mr Nnaji filed the ongoing suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to block UNN and its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mr Ortuanya, from releasing his academic records.

Other defendants in the suit 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.

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Before Mr Nnaji could obtain a court injunction, Mr Ortuanya, had already responded to a PREMIUM TIMES Freedom of Information (FOI) letter, confirming that Mr Nnaji had forged his UNN degree certificate.

The university registrar later corroborated this, indicating that although Mr Nnaji was admitted in 1981, he neither graduated nor was issued a certificate.

NYSC authorities also disowned the discharge certificate in the possession of the then-minister in response to a separate FOI letter.

Mr Nnaji resigned from his position as minister three days after this newspaper published the investigation.

Meanwhile, in March, this newspaper exclusively reported that an investigative panel set up by the Minister of Education, Mr Alausa, confirmed that Mr Nnaji forged his certificates.

Mr Nnaji later moved from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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

Reports indicate that Mr Nnaji is seeking the governorship to secure immunity from prosecution.

In mid-June, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the ICPC to arrest Mr Nnaji.

Despite denying the order’s existence, he filed an appeal against it on 18 June at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

But the ICPC went ahead and arrested him.

The anti-graft agency is currently prosecuting the former minister for certificate forgery and money laundering before the Federal High Court in Abuja.