Uche Nnaji: The Rot at the Heart of Tinubu’s Government

The resignation of Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, has once again laid bare the rot at the heart of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. Three days after a PREMIUM TIMES report exposed him for forging two certificates, Nnaji tendered his resignation, a move the Presidency has tried to dress up as a “voluntary” act. It was not. It was damage control for a scandal that should never have gotten to this point.

This latest episode is not merely about one man’s deceit. It is a reflection of a government where forgery, falsehood, and moral compromise have become standard operating procedure.

A two-year PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that Nnaji submitted forged degrees and NYSC certificates during his ministerial screening in 2023. Both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the National Youth Service Corps have disowned the documents. Yet, this same individual was vetted by the Department of State Services (DSS), cleared by the Senate, and sworn in by the President.

Before that, a report published by People’s Gazette right before his confirmation had clearly warned that Nnaji possessed no authentic academic credentials and advised the Senate against approving his nomination. The Senate ignored this warning. So did the President, who also received the report.

The moral collapse on display here cannot be divorced from the example set at the very top. President Tinubu has for years faced unresolved questions about his own identity, age, and academic records. From the Chicago State University saga to multiple contradictory claims under oath, these controversies have cast a long shadow over his administration.

When the leader of a country operates under a cloud of doubt about his personal history, it is unsurprising that those around him mirror the same behaviour.  Deceit becomes institutional. And integrity, once the foundation of public service, is replaced by opportunism and shameless survival.

The Nnaji case has transformed falsification into qualification and loyalty into immunity, a continuation of the certificate scandal under the late President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The DSS, which reportedly disqualified former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai over “security concerns,” somehow found Nnaji credible for high office. The irony is both bitter and instructive. A security agency that failed to take necessary steps against a forged degree cannot be trusted to safeguard national integrity.

The greater shame lies with the Presidency. Rather than dismissing Nnaji and ordering his prosecution, President Tinubu allowed him the courtesy of resignation, a quiet exit through the back door that protects the image of the government while mocking the intelligence of Nigerians.

This act of concealment is not neutrality; it is complicity. It tells the world that forgery in public office is forgivable, provided it does not make too much noise.

Nigeria is long past the stage of moral ambiguity. There must be an independent and transparent audit of the academic and professional credentials of all members of the Federal Executive Council, beginning with the President himself. Anything less will confirm that deception is now an accepted instrument of state policy.

Until truth and integrity is restored, Nigeria will remain a country governed by impostors pretending to serve the public. The administration has unanswered questions about legitimacy and integrity, and it is no surprise that deceit has become the language of survival in public office. Nnaji did not act in a vacuum; he operated in a political environment that rewards loyalty over merit and protects impunity as long as it serves power.