The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a six-count criminal charge against former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, accusing him of money laundering, abuse of office, making false declarations and allegedly forging his University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.
The charges were filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, with Nnaji named as the sole defendant in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/389/2026.
The criminal charges come days after the former minister was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, upon his arrival from Enugu aboard a chartered flight. The case stems from allegations that he presented forged academic and NYSC certificates to secure his appointment as a minister in 2023.
According to the charge sheet, the ICPC, in the first count, alleged that Nnaji received ₦29,578,466.67 through his Fidelity Bank account as salaries and allowances while serving as Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology when he “reasonably ought to have known” that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful acts arising from alleged corruption and fraud. The commission said the offence is contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
In the second count, the anti-graft agency accused the former minister of using his public office to confer corrupt advantage upon himself by allegedly occupying the ministerial position through false representations, contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The third count alleged that Nnaji knowingly submitted a false NYSC Certificate of National Service, identified as Certificate Number A231309, to the Federal Government in support of his ministerial appointment, an act the commission said amounted to knowingly giving false information to a public authority.
The ICPC further alleged in the fourth count that the former minister knowingly presented a University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate in Microbiology/Biochemistry, bearing Certificate Number 004501, despite allegedly knowing the document to be false.
In the fifth count, the commission accused Nnaji of producing the same NYSC Certificate of National Service around May 1986 and using it as a genuine document, an offence punishable under the Penal Code.
The sixth and final count alleged that Geoffrey Nnaji Uchechukwu, also known as Uche Nnaji, knowingly produced a purported University of Nigeria degree certificate around July 1985 and subsequently used it as genuine despite allegedly knowing it was false.
With the charges now before the court, the former minister is expected to be arraigned in the coming days.
The prosecution follows months of investigations into the allegations against Nnaji. Earlier this year, an investigative panel reportedly constituted by the Federal Ministry of Education concluded that the certificates presented by the former minister were not authentic.
Nnaji has since left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he emerged as the governorship candidate of a faction of the party in Enugu State ahead of the 2027 election.
He had also challenged earlier court orders linked to the investigation, while the ICPC previously secured a warrant authorising his detention pending further investigation.
The allegations remain before the court, and Nnaji is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by the court.
