Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has warned that certificate forgery among public officials could normalise criminal behaviour in Nigeria, following reports that Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, admitted he never received a university degree.
In a statement on Monday, Obi called for immediate prosecution of any official found guilty of certificate fraud, describing the trend as a “national decay” that erodes integrity in governance.
An investigative report revealed that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) disowned the Bachelor of Science certificate presented by Nnaji, stating that the minister did not complete his studies and was never issued a degree. Court filings before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja reportedly showed that Nnaji himself admitted the certificate was not issued by UNN.
Reacting to the revelations, Obi criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other institutions for failing to verify academic documents of political aspirants, lamenting that the system enables dishonesty.
“Those who are supposed to be exemplary have become the very source of the nation’s decay,” Obi said. “When dishonesty is modelled by public officials, it corrodes the moral standards available to young Nigerians.”
The former Anambra governor compared Nigeria’s system with that of Indonesia, where falsifying qualifications leads to immediate disqualification and prosecution.
He proposed electoral reforms requiring all candidates to submit academic certificates immediately after party primaries for public verification within 90 days. Obi also urged that the rule apply to appointed officials, ministers, and aides.
Criminal offences should not be dismissed as a mere procedural matter,” Obi stressed. “We must end the era where forgery and deceit are rewarded with power. True leadership must begin with truth.”