Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, has resigned from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet following mounting allegations that his university degree was forged.
The development was confirmed in a statement released on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. According to the statement, President Tinubu has accepted Nnaji’s resignation and expressed appreciation for his service, wishing him success in his future pursuits.
Nnaji, appointed in August 2023, said in his resignation letter that he had become a victim of political blackmail and decided to step down “in the interest of integrity and public trust.”
His resignation comes just days after an explosive PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), had officially denied issuing him the Bachelor of Science degree he claimed to possess.
The university, in a letter signed by its Registrar, Celine Nnebedum, clarified that Nnaji’s name did not appear in the institution’s 1985 graduation records and that he never received a certificate from UNN.
The revelation added weight to long-standing suspicions about Nnaji’s credentials, which first surfaced in July 2023 when he was listed among the initial batch of 28 ministerial nominees sent to the Senate for screening. Critics at the time alleged discrepancies in both his university and NYSC documents.
Further findings by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Nnaji himself had admitted under oath that he was never issued a degree certificate by the university. Court documents filed before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, revealed that Nnaji acknowledged this fact while suing the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the University of Nigeria, among others.
In his sworn affidavit, Nnaji stated that he was admitted in 1981 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry and completed his studies in 1985, but never collected any certificate. He referenced a letter supposedly written by UNN to People’s Gazette in December 2023, claiming he graduated with a Second Class (Lower Division) — a letter the university has since declared invalid.
In May 2025, Registrar Nnebedum reaffirmed the university’s position in a correspondence to the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), confirming that Nnaji’s name was missing from the official graduation list of 1985.
Nnaji’s resignation has intensified public discussions about integrity and accountability among government officials, particularly amid growing scrutiny of the credentials of public officeholders.