The immediate past Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, was arrested on Wednesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from Enugu via a chartered flight.
Sources at the airport confirmed the arrest, saying Mr Nnaji would be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for interrogation.
The ICPC had been on the trail of the former minister since he resigned from office last year following investigations that revealed he forged his academic certificates.
In mid-June, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the ICPC to arrest Mr Nnaji for investigation into the certificate forgery scandal. Beyond the arrest order, the court also granted the commission leave to declare him wanted through national newspapers, social media platforms and other media.
The ICPC had told the court that its ex parte application followed Mr Nnaji’s repeated failure to honour invitations extended to him for “investigative activities” over the forgery allegations.
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The controversy followed an investigation which alleged that the former minister presented forged University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degrees and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates during his ministerial screening in 2023.
The documents were reportedly submitted to President Bola Tinubu, the Senate, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and security agencies.
Mr Nnaji later admitted that UNN never issued him a degree certificate.
He had previously challenged reports on the matter, describing them as a “media trial”, and later filed an appeal against the arrest order at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
