Alleged Certificate Forgery: Pressure Mounts On Science Minister Nnaji To Resign

Pressure is mounting connected the curate of science, exertion and innovation, Uche Nnaji, to resign from his furniture presumption implicit an alleged certificate forgery.

Two salient Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International Nigeria, person called connected Minister Uche Nnaji, who is progressive successful the certificate scandal, to resign and apologise to the nation.

The person of the CSOs, Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said successful an interrogation with LEADERSHIP that politicians bash not request to get degrees by hook oregon by crook, arsenic they tin clasp immoderate presumption with a schoolhouse certificate, arsenic provided for successful the constitution.

Rafsanjani observed that the curate has not resigned due to the fact that helium is adjacent to the president.

He, however, insisted that leaders indispensable pb by example.

“Well, I deliberation the contented is that if you prevarication successful your certificate, whether it is simply a grade oregon not, whether it is an plus declaration oregon not, I deliberation the lone happening is that if you prevarication and it is exposed, you request simply to resign due to the fact that you cannot beryllium promoting lies and fraud. What enactment are you providing? What are you presiding implicit if you are recovered to beryllium progressive successful a fraudulent oregon lying situation?

“Now, the onus is connected the man, present that the substance is public, to resign and apologise to the federation quickly. Secondly, the president cannot beryllium down and ticker radical who intelligibly beforehand lies, deception, manipulation, and fraud successful the sanction of enactment oregon solidarity.

“There are respective ministers, oregon alternatively respective nationalist officials, who are facing superior integrity challenges due to the fact that of their past and what they person done. Some person been accused of corruption. Some person been charged with akin certificate scandals. Others person been accused of galore things.

“If you privation to supply prime enactment and privation citizens to accept, follow, and respect you, you cannot person radical with damaged reputations and integrity problems,” helium said.

“Recently, we encountered different issue. One of the president’s singers claimed to person obtained a grade from a alleged European university, and they aboriginal distanced themselves from that claim,” helium added.

Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which controls the authorities Nnaji serves arsenic minister, has yet to accidental thing connected the matter. At the clip of this report, the party’s nationalist publicity secretary, Felix Morka, had yet to respond to questions directed to him connected the matter.

Ademola Adaranijo, a prof of law, called connected the national authorities to instantly suspend the curate from bureau pending the result of a thorough and transparent probe into the forgery allegations.

Prof Adaranijo stated that this measurement is important to maintaining nationalist spot and demonstrating a zero-tolerance argumentation towards fraud by the government.

He besides called connected the national authorities to behaviour a broad audit of the world and nonrecreational credentials of each existent and incoming nationalist bureau holders to forestall specified occurrences.

On his part, Lagos lawyer Wahab Abdullahi stressed that if the ungraded is proved to beryllium true, it is not simply an administrative oversight, but a blatant enactment of certificate forgery — a transgression offence nether Sections 366 and 368 of the Criminal Code Act, punishable by up to 14 years successful prison.

Abdullahi pointed retired that the alleged offence contravenes the Fifth Schedule, Part I, of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandates plus and credential disclosure for nationalist officials, and the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of 2000, which prohibits mendacious declarations for undue advantage.

Similarly, the manager of the Public and Private Anti-Corruption Coalition (PPAC), Idowu Phillips, stated that the allegations outlined successful the study are sedate and transgression and should not beryllium swept nether the carpet.

Phillips said certificate forgery is simply a transgression offence that undermines the regularisation of instrumentality and nationalist assurance successful government, adding that allowing a curate accused of possessing forged credentials to stay successful bureau erodes organization integrity and breaches nationalist trust.

He stated that the combat against corruption indispensable beryllium relentless, consistent, and unwavering to sphere antiauthoritarian values and nationalist assurance successful Nigeria’s institutions.

How Court Turned Down Minister Nnaji’s Request to Stop Release of Academic Record

Facts person emerged that the curate of innovation, subject and technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, approached a Federal High Court successful Abuja for an interim injunction to barroom the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, from releasing his world record—an exertion which the tribunal turned down.

The curate had dragged the Minister of Education, the National Un...