Report shows Buhari's minister lied about university degree

An investigative report by Premium Times has revealed that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, has allegedly been lying about his university degree awarded by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

The minister has made several public claims that he graduated from the institution with a first class honours, a claim that's repeated on his official biography page on the website of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and his Wikipedia page.

"Dr. Ibe Kachikwu is a distinction graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and Nigerian Law School. He bagged First Class degree in Law and was best graduand and multiple awards winner from both Institutions," his profile read.

The minister's most public claim of his degree came while he was speaking during the 17th anniversary celebrations of the Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly (COZA) held at the church headquarters in Abuja in 2016.

He said, "…I went to Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) to try and read medicine and I was there for two weeks and then I got admission to read law. My father drove all the way to Ife to meet me and he said to me, 'Why do you want to go to the University?'

"I said my ambition is to be a doctor and he said why are you taking the line of what he called least resistance? And I said, what do you mean by that and he said, well, if you want to be a doctor why don't you just go and read PHD, get to the very top…

"My dad was talking to a little boy and that got me. So, I packed my bag, left the school of medicine and went to read law.

"And, I got in there, got a scholarship and became the best student, I had a first class in that institution (UNN)."

According to a fact check by the DUBAWA and Premium Times, it's been discovered that the minister didn't graduate with first class honours, but with a second class upper degree. He joined the institution to study law in 1974 and graduated in 1978.

Kachikwu joins a growing list of the country's public officials who have been caught in scandals involving academic certificates. Kemi Adeosunwas recently forced to resign as the Minister of Finance after a Premium Times investigation revealed that she had forged an exemption certificate for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after failing to serve.