The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed allegations of certificate forgery against the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, stating that investigations found no evidence to support the claims.
The police said findings from an extensive probe confirmed that the minister’s certificate issued by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is genuine and was properly awarded.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this while responding to enquiries about the controversy surrounding the minister’s academic records.
Hundeyin said the police conducted a detailed investigation into the allegations and found them to be baseless.
According to him, the outcome of the probe established that there was no evidence of forgery, alteration, falsification or unlawful production of the NYSC certificate linked to Tunji-Ojo.
He added that the NYSC authorities were contacted during the course of the investigation and confirmed that the certificate was legitimately issued to the minister.
“The NYSC was contacted, and it was verified that the certificate was duly issued by the corps to the minister. The allegations are therefore unfounded,” Hundeyin said.
The allegations had earlier triggered protests in some parts of the country, with demonstrators calling on authorities to investigate claims that Tunji-Ojo allegedly forged both his NYSC certificate and his result from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
However, WAEC had already addressed the claims earlier in January by confirming the authenticity of the minister’s Senior Secondary School Examination result.
The examination body issued an official attestation document containing Tunji-Ojo’s personal details, including his full name, date of birth, certificate number and an embossed photograph.
According to the document, Tunji-Ojo attended the Staff Secondary School of the Federal University of Technology, Akure and sat for the Senior Secondary School Examination in June 1999.
The record showed that he obtained grades including B3 in Economics, B2 in Mathematics, A1 in Agricultural Science, B3 in Biology, C6 in Chemistry, C6 in English Language, A1 in Yoruba Language, C6 in Further Mathematics and B3 in Physics.
With both the police investigation and WAEC verification clearing the minister of wrongdoing, authorities have maintained that the allegations of certificate forgery against Tunji-Ojo lack factual basis.
