Former Minister Uche Nnaji Arrested Over Alleged Certificate Forgery
Former Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, has been arrested by security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Sources said that Mr Nnaji was arrested on Wednesday upon his arrival from Enugu on a chartered flight and would be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for questioning.
The arrest followed a Federal High Court order issued in June directing the ICPC to arrest and investigate the former minister over allegations of certificate forgery.
The commission had told the court that Mr Nnaji repeatedly failed to honour invitations extended to him as part of its investigation into the allegations.
The controversy followed an investigation which alleged that the former minister presented forged University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degrees and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates during his ministerial screening in 2023.
The documents were reportedly submitted to President Bola Tinubu, the Senate, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and security agencies.
Mr Nnaji later admitted that UNN did not issue him a degree certificate.
He had previously challenged reports on the matter, describing them as a “media trial”, and later filed an appeal against the arrest order at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.