Resignation won’t erase forgery allegations, Atiku tells Tinubu over Nnaji scandal

Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, has criticised the resignation of Uche Nnaji, former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, describing it as an attempt to conceal what he termed “another forgery scandal” under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Nnaji resigned on Tuesday following a Premium Times investigation which alleged that he submitted forged academic and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates during his 2023 ministerial screening. Both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the NYSC reportedly denied issuing the documents.

Reacting in a post on X on Wednesday, Atiku, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, argued that the ex-minister should not have been allowed to resign voluntarily but dismissed and prosecuted.

“What should ordinarily be a matter of national shame is now being disguised as a ‘voluntary resignation’—an attempt to whitewash yet another scandal that typifies the forgery-ridden character of this government,” he said.

Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of shielding public officials accused of misconduct, describing it as “an assembly of forgers, impostors, and morally bankrupt individuals masquerading as public servants.”

He also faulted the Department of State Services (DSS), which cleared Nnaji during his screening despite the alleged discrepancies in his credentials, noting that the same agency had screened out former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, over security concerns.

Atiku linked the controversy to what he called a recurring pattern of deceit at the heart of the current administration, referencing past controversies surrounding President Tinubu’s own academic and identity records.t

He demanded an independent investigation into the credentials of all cabinet members, including the President. “Until this cleansing is done, Nigeria will continue to sink deeper into moral decay, economic ruin, and global embarrassment,” Atiku stated.

Neither the Presidency nor the DSS had responded to Atiku’s comments as of press time.