Former Kaduna Central lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has declared that a secondary school certificate remains the only academic requirement for anyone aspiring to hold political office or secure an appointment in Nigeria.
Sani’s statement on Monday followed a controversial investigative report by Premium Times, which exposed discrepancies in the academic records of the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uche Nnaji.
According to the report, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), disowned the Bachelor of Science degree certificate presented by Nnaji, stating that the minister neither completed his programme nor was issued any degree by the institution.
Citing court filings before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, the report revealed that Nnaji himself admitted that the university did not award him a certificate. Consequently, the minister instituted a suit against the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), UNN, its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, and other top officials of the university, seeking judicial intervention.
The court, however, granted three of the minister’s requests, including an order directing the release of his academic transcript, but declined to issue a restraining order against the defendants. The matter has since been adjourned to October 6 for further hearing.
Reacting to the controversy on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Senator Sani warned politicians against inflating their academic credentials to gain political advantage.
He wrote, “All you need to contest elections or for political appointment is a secondary school certificate. There is no way in the realm of politics one can claim any unearned qualification without opponents digging into the matter. Some troubles are unnecessarily self-inflicted.”
