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A Federal High Court in Abuja arraigned former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Uche Nnaji on Monday on six counts of certificate forgery, false declaration and money laundering, then granted him bail after he pleaded not guilty to each charge.
Nnaji entered his plea before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. Prosecutors for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission told the court they were ready to proceed to trial, with three witnesses already in the courtroom. Defense counsel Ogwu Onoja, a senior advocate, asked for more time to prepare and pointed the court to a bail application his team had filed July 9; prosecutors raised no objection. Abdulmalik granted bail of 20 million naira, requiring one surety who holds a federal civil service rank of at least level 15 and resides in Abuja, and ordered Nnaji to surrender both his personal and official passports.
Read also: Former Minister Nnaji Forged UNN Degree And NYSC Certificates
The charges, filed in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/389/2026 with the Federal Government as complainant, accuse Nnaji of producing and presenting as genuine a forged University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate and a forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate, both submitted during his ministerial screening in 2023. Separate counts accuse him of receiving roughly 29.58 million naira in salary and allowances that prosecutors say he ought to have known were proceeds of corruption and fraud, and of using his office to secure a corrupt advantage for himself, in alleged violation of Nigeria’s Money Laundering Act and the Penal Code.
The case traces to a 2023 report by Peoples Gazette that first raised doubts about Nnaji’s academic credentials, reporting that his purported NYSC discharge certificate appeared fabricated and that his degree certificate contained inconsistencies visible without close examination. A follow-up petition from the anti-corruption group HEDA Resource Centre added pressure on the ICPC to open a formal investigation. Both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the NYSC have since disowned the certificates attributed to Nnaji.
Read also: Tinubu’s Minister, Uche Nnaji Resigns Over Certificate Forgery
The ICPC said it invited Nnaji for questioning through a May 15 letter sent to his known addresses in Abuja and Enugu and to his email, but that he did not appear on the scheduled dates. The commission then obtained a Federal High Court order, in a separate suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1160/2026, authorizing his arrest on June 11. He was detained July 1 at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as he arrived from Enugu, with the Department of State Services assisting, and was handed over to ICPC investigators.
Nnaji resigned as minister on Oct. 7, 2025, calling the decision a “principled decision to respect the sanctity of due process” and denying any wrongdoing. When the allegations first became public months earlier, he had described them as a politically motivated campaign of falsehoods intended to distract from his ministry’s work and from the government’s broader development agenda.
Since leaving office, Nnaji has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, where he won the nomination as its candidate for Enugu State’s 2027 governorship race despite the pending case.
President Bola Tinubu has separately directed all federal ministries, departments and agencies to cooperate with the ICPC’s investigation. “The integrity of the Presidency and the institutions of the Federal Government must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and the exploitation of weaknesses in the public service,” Tinubu said, directing that anyone found culpable be treated strictly in accordance with the law.
Nnaji had been appointed to the innovation, science and technology portfolio in 2023 as part of Tinubu’s first cabinet, one of dozens of ministerial nominees whose credentials were reviewed by the Senate before confirmation. His nomination as the PDP’s Enugu governorship candidate for the 2027 election followed a primary that some party members have disputed, though Nnaji has continued to campaign on the strength of that result while facing the forgery case.
Nnaji appeared in court Monday in white traditional attire and a red cap, raising his hand to acknowledge supporters who cheered as he entered the courtroom. The case will proceed to trial once the defense completes its preparations, with prosecutors’ witness list including two civil servants from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and a police deputy superintendent.
