Former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, is scheduled to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, July 13, to answer a six-count criminal charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Nnaji will be arraigned before Justice Abdulmalik Joyce following the conclusion of the anti-graft agency’s investigation into allegations of certificate forgery and related offences.
The prosecution comes after the ICPC concluded its probe into claims that the former minister submitted forged academic and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates during his appointment process in 2023.
The charges were filed shortly after Nnaji’s arrest on July 1 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja upon his arrival from Enugu aboard a chartered flight.
According to court documents, the former minister is accused of unlawfully receiving N29.58 million in salaries and allowances while serving in office, with the ICPC alleging that the funds were proceeds of corruption and fraud in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The commission also accused him of using his office to confer corrupt advantage on himself, contrary to the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act.
Other charges allege that Nnaji knowingly presented a forged NYSC discharge certificate and a falsified University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degree certificate to the Federal Government to secure his ministerial appointment. The ICPC further accused him of producing and using both documents as genuine, offences punishable under the Penal Code.
The allegations stem from an extensive investigation into Nnaji’s academic records, which revealed discrepancies in the credentials he submitted during his ministerial screening.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, confirmed that although Nnaji was admitted to the institution in 1981, he neither graduated nor received the degree certificate he presented. The National Youth Service Corps also disowned the discharge certificate attributed to him.
Following the publication of the findings, Nnaji resigned from his ministerial position.
An investigative panel established by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, later reportedly affirmed that the certificates were forged.
Nnaji has since defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he emerged as the governorship candidate of the Wike-backed PDP faction ahead of the 2027 elections.
The former minister also challenged legal actions against him, appealing a Federal High Court order directing his arrest after initially denying the existence of the order. The ICPC subsequently obtained a warrant to detain him for 14 days pending further proceedings.
His arraignment on Monday is expected to mark the beginning of formal criminal proceedings in one of Nigeria’s high-profile certificate forgery cases.