The Minister of Education has set up a panel to investigate the vice-chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) for disclosing details of the alleged certificate forgery by former minister Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji.
The Ministry of Education has launched an investigation into the vice-chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Professor Simon Ortuanya, after he responded to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that exposed the alleged certificate forgery of former Minister of Science and Technology Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji.
According to a report from PREMIUM TIMES, the Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, accuses the vice-chancellor of “unethical and criminal disclosure of information” which the university released under the FOI Act. The panel’s exact mandate remains unclear, though sources say it is expected to sit this week or next. The probe comes despite the fact that Mr Nnaji had effectively confessed to forging his Bachelor’s degree certificate and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate in his court documents during a failed attempt to prevent publication of the investigation.
Premium Times reported that their detailed review of documents confirmed the certificates were forged and that the institution and NYSC verified they never issued the credentials presented by Mr Nnaji. In his FOI response dated 2 October, Professor Ortuanya stated, “From every available record and information from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we are unable to confirm that Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji… graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985.”
He further added that the university did not—and could not have—issued the certificate Mr Nnaji presented. Legal experts suggest the ministry’s action may amount to an attempt to intimidate the university and punish transparency, rather than prosecuting the certificate forger.