Anti-corruption group HEDA Resource Centre has petitioned President Bola Tinubu and Senate President Godswill Akpabio to urgently investigate allegations of certificate forgery against Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, the Minister of Science and Technology, and suspend him in the interim.

HEDA chair Olanrewaju Suraju predicated his petition on an exclusive report by Peoples Gazette, which detailed how the minister submitted a bogus national youth service certificate among his credentials and how the nation’s secret police, SSS, ignored the discrepancies to allow Mr Nnaji’s successful ministerial screening at the National Assembly.

HEDA condemned SSS’s alleged laxity to act and report their findings to the Senate before Mr Nnaji was confirmed a minister saying their conduct mirrored past instances where prominent persons like Kemi Sdepsun and Stella Oduah were greenlighted into ministerial positions despite submitting falsified credentials. 

“We strongly urge the National Assembly to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” stated the petition. “It is crucial that the SSS’s role and the potential lapses or compromises in the clearance process are scrutinised and rectified.” 

In a similar yet separate petition, the anti-graft group asked Mr Akpabio and his colleagues at the Senate to thoroughly investigate Mr Nnaji and step up their verification process for public service nominees going forward as part of efforts to uphold the integrity of the office.

Mr Nnaji’s NYSC certificate, serial number A231309, showed he spent more than one year in service. It showed that the politician enrolled on April 16, 1985, and passed out on May 15, 1986, a total of 13 months for a mandatory service that only lasted 12 months.

Additionally, Mr Nnaji’s certificate, which was purportedly issued in 1986, carried the signature of Animashaun Braimoh, a Nigerian Army colonel who was not appointed to lead the NYSC until January 1988.

The Gazette’s extensive findings showed all certificates issued in 1986 were signed by Etuk Akpan, who was appointed to lead the NYSC from January 1984 to December 1987.

When reached to verify the document, NYSC officials could not account for the source of Mr Nnaji’s certificate and could not find a copy in their possession that carried the duration stated on the certificate.