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A High Court in Abuja on Monday granted N20 million bail to former Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, after he pleaded not guilty to a six-count certificate forgery charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Nnaji, who served in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet from August 16, 2023, to October 6, 2025, before his resignation, is accused of forging a degree certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and presenting a false National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate during his ministerial screening in 2023.
The defendant entered his plea before trial judge Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday.
Following an application by defence counsel Chief James Onoja, SAN, the court admitted Nnaji to bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum.
Justice Abdulmalik ruled that the surety must be a civil servant resident in Abuja, not below grade level 15, and must depose to an affidavit of means.
The court also ordered Nnaji to surrender his international passport and barred him from travelling outside the country without permission.
The judge fixed July 21 for the commencement of the trial.
Security operatives arrested the former minister at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on July 1 upon his return to the Federal Capital Territory, following a bench warrant issued by the court on June 11, 2026.
The ICPC had earlier invited him for questioning through a letter dated May 15, but he allegedly failed to honour the invitation.
[IN PICTURES]: Former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, will be arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of certificate forgery. The case follows his resignation after the allegations emerged. pic.twitter.com/THVSMkWsJz
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) July 13, 2026
