The Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, has disclosed that it took the media outlet two years painstaking investigation to uncover certificate forgery of former Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji.
Penpushing reports that Mojeed made this known while featuring as a guest on a television programme, adding that in the course of the investigation there were efforts by some individuals to frustrate the organisation
The Chief Operating Officer of Premium Times, recalled that during the process of investigation the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), initially failed to respond to the first Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted on February 1, 2024, adding that it was later understood that the failure was caused by interested parties determined to frustrate the investigation.
Penpushing further reports that Mojeed, explained that the management had no issue with the minister, and that investigative journalism is what the organization is known for, and Nnaji’s case won’t be the first time.
The Editor-in-Chief explained that the urge to investigate academic qualification of Nnaji, followed anonymous whistleblower who contacted the media outlet alerting it to discrepancies in Nnaji’s certificates as well as urging an investigation.
“The whistleblower, he or she, was confident that if we did a diligent investigation, we would be able to uncover something shocking. And we took up the challenge, and then we started working on it. In 2023, we started working on it,” he stated.
Penpushing also reports that Mojeed, who doubles as President International Press Institute(IPI), Nigeria Chapter said the management of Premium Times, thereafter assigned the story to reporters upon receipt of the tip-off from the whistleblower.
“We had no battle with the minister. We didn’t know him. But for us, this is not the first time. Our strength is investigation. Everybody knows our newsroom for that. And when a matter is brought before us, we investigate,” he said.
“Sometimes, we find things that are indicting; sometimes, we don’t. But it’s our job as journalists, especially as required of us by the constitution, to hold power to account, which is what we have done here’, Mojeed added
“We couldn’t make progress with the investigation. Until we learned that in August, there is a new leadership at the university. We decided to try again. Initially, we wrote to just the registrar, but in our second attempt, we wrote to both the vice-chancellor and the registrar separately. We decided this time to courier the letter to each of them separately, which was what we did’, he said narrated.
“Luckily for us, the vice chancellor responded. And just today, the registrar just responded, affirming the same thing that the vice-chancellor told us. So, that was how we worked on that’, he explained
Penpushing reports that he said the organisation carried out the investigation, sending Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), where Nnaji attended and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) authorities, and reviewing several documents, and unsuccessfully seeking clarifications from Nnaji.
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