A prosecution witness has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) denied issuing certificates attributed to former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Geoffrey Uche Nnaji.
The witness, a police officer with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), SP Yakubu Ibrahim, gave the testimony on Monday during the trial before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
Ibrahim told the court that the ICPC commenced investigations following two petitions alleging certificate forgery against Nnaji.
He said the commission subsequently sought documents from the National Assembly, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, UNN and the NYSC.
According to the witness, the NYSC denied issuing the certificate attributed to it, while UNN reportedly informed the commission that Nnaji did not meet the academic requirements for the award of the degree certificate in Microbiology and Biochemistry.
Ibrahim said the university explained its examination policy, adding that Nnaji failed at two stages and missed a third examination on medical grounds.
He further alleged that Nnaji later sat for a supplementary examination without registering for it.
The witness also told the court that documents obtained from the SGF’s office, including a payslip, led investigators to request Nnaji’s bank statement.
He said the statement showed that the former minister received about 29.5 million naira in salary payments before leaving office.
Ibrahim identified correspondence from the relevant institutions and other documents obtained during the investigation.
He added that Nnaji failed to honour the ICPC’s invitation to respond to the allegations, leading the commission to contact the Department of State Services (DSS), which subsequently arrested him on July 1.
During cross-examination, defence counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, questioned the witness about the scope of his investigation.
Ibrahim admitted that he did not visit UNN and could not identify the faculty from which Nnaji allegedly graduated or state how many campuses the institution had.
The witness said he interviewed a university registrar named Ngozi but could not recall her surname.
He also acknowledged seeing a letter concerning the withdrawal of Nnaji’s admission.
Olanipekun, however, referred him to another letter indicating that the withdrawal decision of November 7, 1984, was reversed on March 18, 1985.
Justice Abdulmalik admitted the prosecution’s documents in evidence, reserving objections to their admissibility for consideration at the final address, following a submission by the defence counsel.
The prosecution subsequently sought an adjournment to present another witness.
The court fixed November 5 for continuation of the trial.
Nnaji is facing a six-count charge bordering on alleged certificate forgery, money laundering and abuse of office.
The ICPC alleges that he presented forged UNN and NYSC certificates in support of his ministerial appointment in 2023 and received about 29.58 million naira in salaries and allowances allegedly linked to unlawful acts.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was granted bail in the sum of 20 million naira, with one surety.
The court also ordered him to deposit his international passport.
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads)
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
