Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has issued a stern warning over the growing menace of certificate forgery in Nigeria, after media reports revealed that a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet admitted he never obtained a university degree.
Obi’s comments followed a PREMIUM TIMES investigation that exposed the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, as lacking a legitimate degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). The university has since officially disowned the certificate in his possession, declaring that Nnaji neither completed his studies nor was ever issued a degree.
Court documents submitted before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja contain Nnaji’s own admission that UNN never issued him any degree certificate. In those filings, he had sued the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and university officials over alleged interference with his academic records.
In a statement released on Monday, Obi lamented that those expected to set moral examples have instead become a source of the nation’s decay. He argued that when dishonesty starts
at the top of governance, it erodes the ethical standards available for young Nigerians to emulate.
He contrasted Nigeria’s lax enforcement with Indonesia’s strict rules: in Indonesia, any candidate who falsely claims qualifications is immediately disqualified and prosecuted. Obi emphasised that although Nigerian law punishes forgery, bodies like INEC often fail to scrutinise certificates before elections and dismiss post-election forgery claims as merely “pre-election matters”.
Stressing the need for reform ahead of the 2027 general elections, Obi proposed that:
All aspirants must submit academic certificates immediately after party primaries — at least six months before elections.
The submitted credentials (schools, courses, years of study) should be publicly verifiable within 90 days.
The same verification requirement should apply to appointed officials, ministers and aides.
He said, “Criminal offences should not be dismissed as a mere procedural matter. We must end the era where forgery and deceit are rewarded with power. True leadership must begin with truth.”
Obi called for “immediate and systemic action,” including the prosecution of anyone found guilty of certificate fraud, in order to forestall a culture where fraudulent behaviour becomes accepted as normal in Nigeria’s public life.
