Former Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Nnaji was reportedly arrested on Wednesday after arriving from Enugu aboard a chartered flight.
According to Premium Times, authoritative airport sources confirmed the arrest, saying the former minister would be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, for interrogation.
The ICPC had reportedly been on Nnaji’s trail since he resigned from office last year following investigations into alleged certificate forgery.
In mid-June, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the ICPC to arrest the former minister for investigation over the certificate forgery scandal.
The court also granted the anti-graft agency permission to declare him wanted through national newspapers, social media platforms and other media channels.
The ICPC had told the court that its ex parte application followed Nnaji’s repeated failure to honour invitations for what it described as “investigative activities” over the allegations.
The invitation followed a two-year investigation by Premium Times, published in October last year, which alleged that Nnaji forged his University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, degree certificate and National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, certificate.
The report claimed that the disputed documents were submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Senate during Nnaji’s ministerial confirmation in 2023.
The documents were also reportedly presented to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the State Security Service and the Senate.
Premium Times further reported that Nnaji later admitted that UNN never issued him a degree certificate.
The former minister had earlier denied the existence of the court order against him and described the report as a media trial.
On June 18, Nnaji filed an appeal against the arrest order at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, according to a notice of appeal obtained by Premium Times.
As of press time, the ICPC had yet to issue an official statement on his arrest.
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