Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the Department of State Service (DSS) over the ministerial screening of Geoffrey Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology.
Atiku, in a statement on X on Wednesday, criticized the DSS, claiming that the same body that barred former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai from ministerial screening due to security concerns cleared Nnaji despite claimed irregularities in his credentials.
Nnaji resigned on Tuesday following Premium Times’ research into allegations that he presented fraudulent academic and NYSC certificates to the Senate during his ministerial screening in 2023.
According to reports, both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the National Youth Service Corps denied ownership of the materials.
In a post on X on Wednesday, he stated, “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.”
Atiku also stated that the minister should have been removed and prosecuted rather than permitted to “quietly exit through the backdoor.”
He said, “Tuesday’s resignation of Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, has once again brought to light the deep moral crisis … 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.
“Let the truth be told: Uche Nnaji should not have been allowed the courtesy of resignation. He should have been summarily dismissed and prosecuted for deceit and falsification. By permitting him to quietly exit through the backdoor… again demonstrated that it is an assembly of forgers, impostors, and morally bankrupt individuals masquerading as public servants.”
The former vice president, who was the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, tied the scandal to what he described as a habit of deception “that begins from the very top,” referring to previous controversies concerning Tinubu’s academic and personal records.
He demanded an impartial probe into the credentials of all members of the Federal Executive Council, including the President, arguing that Nigerians deserved to know the truth about individuals in public office.
“Until this cleansing is done, Nigeria will continue to sink deeper into moral decay, economic ruin, and global embarrassment,” he said.
