Abuja — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the resignation of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, describing it as “an attempt to whitewash yet another scandal” within the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Nnaji resigned on Tuesday following a report by Premium Times alleging that he submitted forged academic and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates to the Senate during his ministerial screening in 2023. Both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the NYSC were reported to have denied issuing the documents.
Reacting to the development in a post on X on Wednesday, Atiku said the minister should have been dismissed and prosecuted rather than being allowed to “quietly exit through the backdoor.”
He wrote, “Tuesday’s resignation of Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, has once again brought to light the deep moral crisis in this administration. 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.”
The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate said the minister’s resignation did not absolve the government of responsibility. “Uche Nnaji should not have been allowed the courtesy of resignation. He should have been summarily dismissed and prosecuted for deceit and falsification,” Atiku stated. “By permitting him to quietly exit through the backdoor, this government has again demonstrated that it is an assembly of forgers, impostors, and morally bankrupt individuals masquerading as public servants.”
Atiku also questioned the integrity of Nigeria’s security vetting system, faulting the Department of State Services (DSS) for clearing Nnaji despite the alleged discrepancies in his credentials.
He said, “What makes this even more embarrassing is that the same Department of State Services which screened out Mallam Nasir el-Rufai for alleged ‘security concerns’ is the very agency that cleared this same character, Uche Nnaji.”
The former vice president alleged that the forgery scandal reflected a pattern of deceit “that begins from the very top” of government, calling for an independent verification of the credentials of all Federal Executive Council members, including the President.
“Nigerians deserve to know the truth about those occupying public offices,” he said. “Until this cleansing is done, Nigeria will continue to sink deeper into moral decay, economic ruin, and global embarrassment.”
As of press time, neither the Presidency nor the DSS had responded to Atiku’s comments.
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