The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arraigned former minister Uche Nnaji on Monday over six counts including forgery, money laundering, and abuse of office. The charges mark a dramatic fall for a man who sailed through ministerial screening just over a year earlier.
In the first count, ICPC alleged that Nnaji received N29.58 million through his bank account as ministerial salary and allowances while he "reasonably ought to have known" the funds came from corruption and fraud. The prosecution says this violated the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The second charge accuses him of misusing his ministerial position to "confer corrupt advantage" on himself, breaching the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act. The remaining counts centre on allegedly presenting forged documents to the federal government.
ICPC claims Nnaji submitted a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, numbered A231309, to support his appointment as minister. The prosecution says he did this "with intent to mislead" the government.
Separate counts allege he also presented a fraudulent University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degree certificate in Microbiology/Biochemistry, bearing number 004501, in August 2023. The ICPC insists he knew both documents were false when he submitted them.
Two additional charges target the forgery itself. ICPC alleges Nnaji knowingly produced the bogus NYSC certificate around May 1986 and used it as genuine, violating Penal Code provisions.
Similarly, prosecutors claim he produced the fake UNN degree certificate around July 1985 and presented it as authentic.
Nnaji appeared before the Nigerian Senate on August 1, 2023 for ministerial screening, armed with a 10-page curriculum vitae he'd submitted to lawmakers, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). Nothing at that moment suggested his credentials would soon become explosive.
Before the screening, Nnaji had contested the 2023 governorship election under the All Progressives Congress (APC) banner in Enugu state. He finished a distant fourth with 14,575 votes, far behind eventual winner Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 160,895 votes.
During his 21-minute screening between 4:41pm and 5:02pm, Nnaji told senators he earned his Microbiology/Biochemistry degree from UNN in July 1985. He also stated he completed his mandatory one-year NYSC scheme in Jos in 1986.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio and colleagues gave him the routine instruction to "take a bow and go." By August 22, 2023, Nnaji was inaugurated alongside other ministers.
People's Gazette had attempted investigating his qualifications beforehand but hit a wall at the university. Unknown to Nnaji, Premium Times was conducting its own quiet probe into his credentials.
The online newspaper published its investigation in October 2025, exposing what it claimed were serious irregularities in his academic records. The revelation triggered a massive scandal and eventually led to ICPC's intervention and his prosecution.
