Fresh Claims Emerge On Why Nnaji Wants To Become Enugu Gov

Fresh claims have emerged on why former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, is allegedly desperate to become governor of Enugu State despite a certificate forgery scandal.

Multiple sources told Premium Times that Nnaji’s governorship ambition may be linked to his alleged desire to enjoy constitutional immunity from possible prosecution over the forgery allegations.

Naija News reports that Nnaji, who resigned as minister in October 2025, emerged on Monday as the governorship candidate of the Nyesom Wike-backed faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State ahead of the 2027 election.

A two-year investigation published by Premium Times in October 2025 had alleged that Nnaji forged his degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates, which he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Senate during his ministerial confirmation.

He resigned three days after the report was published.

The former minister, who contested the 2023 Enugu governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, later quietly moved to the PDP.

He is currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the alleged certificate forgery.

Premium Times had reported in February that the ICPC had begun investigating the allegation.

Sources said the former minister could face prosecution if the investigation establishes that he forged his credentials.

In March, the newspaper also reported that an investigative panel set up by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, found that Nnaji forged his degree and NYSC certificates.

Sources within the Ministries of Innovation, Science and Technology and Education, as well as persons close to Nnaji, alleged that the former minister was worried about possible prosecution by the ICPC.

They claimed that he was seeking the governorship seat to enjoy immunity if elected.

One of the sources said, “He feels that his future is uncertain with the certificate forgery scandal hanging over his neck.

“So he is thinking that if he becomes governor, at least for the first four years, he cannot be prosecuted because of the immunity he will enjoy.

“And if he becomes governor and does everything to get his second term, so by eight years, all the people investigating him or prosecuting him will be out of power.”

Constitution Grants Immunity

Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution grants immunity from civil and criminal proceedings to a sitting President, Vice-President, governors and deputy governors.

The section states, “No civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office.

“A person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise; and no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies shall be applied for or issued.”

Sources close to Nnaji also claimed that he feared the Federal Government could forward the findings of the Education Ministry panel to the Director of Public Prosecutions for possible prosecution.

The report also claimed that the Enugu State Government may seek a fiat to prosecute him because the alleged forgery involved the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a federal university located in the state.

Sources alleged that the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Enugu State Ministry of Justice were considering steps to prosecute the former minister for alleged criminal misconduct.

The report cited previous cases of Nigerian politicians whose investigations or trials were affected after they assumed offices covered by constitutional immunity.

It cited Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, who served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory from 2010 to 2015.

In 2016, after leaving office as minister, he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged financial crimes.

However, after he won the Bauchi governorship election in 2019, the EFCC dropped the case in line with the constitutional immunity granted to serving governors.

The report also cited former Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, who was arrested by the EFCC in 2007 while serving as chief of staff to then-governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.

Orji spent more than 90 days in detention on allegations of conspiracy and money laundering involving billions of naira belonging to the Abia State Government.

He was still in custody when he emerged as the governorship candidate of the defunct Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).

Orji later won the April 2007 governorship election from prison and was released on bail shortly before his swearing-in on May 29, 2007.

The EFCC withdrew his name from active criminal charges after he took office and became entitled to immunity under Section 308 of the Constitution.