The spokesperson for the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Mr Robert Ngwu has said that the management of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) of playing politics with the minister’s certificate saga, adding that the university orchestrated the minister’s files

This comes after the minister Uche Geoffrey Nnaji was clutched in an alleged certificate forgery scandal, with the UNN management disowning the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree certificate the minister submitted to the Senate during his screening in 2023

The spokesman, while speaking with newsmen on Channels Television’s Morning Brief of Tuesday, stated that the university management is interfering with the minister’s certificate, emphasizing that the Vice Chancellor of the school was a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In his words, “The file of a student has no business in the Vice Chancellor’s office. You have an Acting Vice Chancellor who was a card carrying member of the PDP. Under normal circumstances, he’s not even qualified to be a vice chancellor of the school, but he was made acting. And then you have another vice chancellor who was in government for decades, and you put an academic robe on the politician.”

He also acknowledged that the forgery claims against the minister is politically stimulated, as the PDP in Enugu is alleged to be fond of dishonoring politicians who attempt to challenge the party’s control of the state.

“The minister is jittery because we know this is political, and we know how illegal politics is. In Enugu, the PDP has found a way to remain in power for the last 26 years by making sure there is no competition during elections. So, what they do is go after whoever they think will challenge them and try to discredit them or find a way for them not to have a political party to run, he said.

Mr Ngwu encouraged the authorities of the institution to release the minister’s transcript and stop exploiting his files.