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The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) is set to sanction its registrar, Ngozi Nnebedum, for making a false claim to Peoples Gazette and protecting disgraced minister Uche Nnaji over his forged certificate.
Mr Nnaji, who was the minister of innovation, science and technology, resigned on Wednesday night following pressure resulting from The Gazette’s 2023 and 2024 investigative reports exposing his forged University and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.
His resignation came after a court case filed by his political opponents in 2024, which relied on The Gazette’s reports.
The Gazette had, in an email dated October 24, 2023, written to Mrs Nnebedum in her capacity as UNN’s registrar, requesting confirmation of Mr Nnaji’s alleged degree from the institution.
On January 12, 2024, The Gazette received a response bearing the official letterhead and stamp of the Office of the Registrar, University of Nigeria, but dated December 21, 2023.
The official letter from the registrar’s office, signed under Mrs Nnebedum’s authority, read: “Attn: Samuel Ogundipe, People’s Gazette, Plot 1095, Umar Shuaibu, Utako District Abuja. RE: MEDIA ENQUIRY FROM PEOPLE’S GAZETTE: GEOFFREY UCHECHUKWU NNAJI. Your email dated October 24th 2023, on the above subject refers. This is to confirm that Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji with registration number 1981/30725 was admitted in 1981 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.”
The letter added that, “Mr. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985 with Bachelor of Science in Microbiology/Biochemistry, Second Class (Hons.) Lower Division.”
However, a contradictory letter obtained by another newspaper had recently emerged from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, confirming that Mr Nnaji did not graduate from the university.
Sources familiar with UNN’s internal administration told The Gazette on Thursday that Mrs Nnebedum met privately with Mr Nnaji in Abuja in 2023 before responding to The Gazette’s inquiry about his credentials.
When contacted on Thursday, the registrar told The Gazette, “The letter was written on my behalf, but we are working to clarify everything from the university.”
But while she claimed the letter was written “on her behalf,” Mrs Nnebedum herself had previously told The Gazette that Mr Nnaji graduated from UNN.
She said at the time (2023) that she had carefully examined the records and determined that Mr Nnaji “completed all academic requirements” of UNN, and she had decided to confirm her findings to our newspaper on the record.
Even after Mrs Nnebedum officially wrote that Mr Nnaji graduated from the school, The Gazette informed her about the implications of her action because all evidence available to the newsroom at the time showed that Mr Nnaji never graduated. The registrar, however, insisted she had reviewed all the records and was in a position to confirm Mr Nnaji’s certificate as authentic.
At the time, The Gazette also shared with Mrs Nnebedum the forged UNN certificate that Mr Nnaji had submitted to the Nigerian Senate. For several months, she claimed her office could not locate the university’s copy of the document and therefore could not speak to its authenticity.
She also failed to explain why Mr Nnaji’s name was missing from the University Senate’s official graduation list, nor could she clarify why his name was misspelt on the certificate or why the dates of his alleged graduation and NYSC mobilisation did not align.
At least two individuals who attended UNN during the years Mr Nnaji claimed to have studied there told The Gazette they had no recollection of graduating with him.
One of them, who admitted that his memory of the period was “hazy,” said Mr Nnaji appeared to have been one of his classmates between 1981 and 1982, but did not graduate with their cohort. He declined to comment on the record due to his affiliation with a foundation supported by the disgraced minister.
“Only successful graduates are mobilised for national service throughout the country,” NYSC spokesman Eddy Megwahad told The Gazette, adding: “The requirements for mobilisation are strictly based on the evidence of completion of tertiary education.”
University sources confirmed that the UNN management has now initiated internal disciplinary procedures against Mrs Nnebedum for misrepresentation and breach of institutional ethics, describing her conduct as “a serious administrative offence” that brought “embarrassment to the university.”
