Irunmole-nla: Senator Andy Uba’s Extensive Academic Fraud Exposed

Friday, 31 March 2017

Senator Andy Uba’s Extensive Academic Fraud Exposed

Senator Andy Uba has extensively falsified his academic credentials, according to finding by a team of investigators at SaharaReporters. Documents obtained by our investigators reveal that Mr. Uba has systematically lied about every level of his academic experience, brazenly doctoring his secondary school leaving certificate and making claims to several university degrees, including a doctorate, even though he never obtained even a bachelor's degree.

Our investigation showed that Senator Uba, whose formal names are Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba, completed his secondary school education at Union Secondary School, Awkunanaw, Enugu, the capital of then Anambra State, in 1974. His authentic statement of result issued by his secondary school revealed that Mr. Uba sat for nine subjects, namely English Language, Literature in English, Christian Religious Knowledge, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Statistics. The document, which contained the senator’s examination number, 05465089, showed that Mr. Uba failed Literature in English, Christian Religious Knowledge, and Economics, obtained “pass” grades in English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and Statistics, and earned “credit” only in Chemistry.

Andy Uba's fake WAEC resultsSahara Reporters Media

However, Mr. Uba forged a different “Confirmation of Result” dated November 13, 2013, claiming that the document was issued by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). In it, the senator offered a rosier picture of his academic performance. The fake document listed his grades as follows: English Literature 4, English Language 7, Christian Religious Knowledge 7, Economics 4, Statistics 6, Mathematics 6, Physics 4, and Chemistry 6. In the lower part of the document, which Mr. Uba apparently presented to the UK Border Agency in London, was the message, “You will have to satisfy yourself that he/she and UBA EMMANUEL NNAMDI of our records are one and the same person.” The document, which gave Senator Uba’s address as “14 Vaal Street, Mattama (sic) Abuja,” was signed by Oshunbote S. (Mrs.) as “Results and Certificates Officer,” and Okelezo A.A. (Mr.), “for Head of National Office.” The forged document is riddled with bad grammar, including the sentence, “The details of him/her performance at the examination are as follows.” On WAEC’s official website, www.waec.org, one of the signatories, Mr. A.A. Okelezo, is listed as the branch controller in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.

SaharaReporters also obtained another forged school certificate document that Mr. Uba had used to misrepresent his mediocre performance in secondary school. The results recorded in the document tally with those in the so-called “Confirmation of Result.” However, the forged certificate also betrays sloppiness, with GRADE spelled as GARDE.

Andy Uba's Official bioSahara Reporters Media

Senator Uba, who emerged as a major shadowy figure on the national political stage when he worked in Aso Rock as senior domestic aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, actually intensified the falsification of his academic credentials post-secondary school. On his “official website,” www.andyuba.blogspot.com, Senator Uba, who represents Anambra South senatorial zone, authorized the posting of an educational profile that is discredited by the facts. Under “Education,” the official website names Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; California State University, USA, and Buxton University, UK as institutions where Mr. Uba obtained degrees. The entries in Mr. Uba’s website, often written in poor English, claim that he earned a “PhD in Biological Sciences” at Buxton University.

In a section captioned “Biography,” the website notes: “Senator (Dr.) Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba (Andy) was born on December 14, 1958 in Enugu, Enugu State…Having witnessed and survived the Nigerian civil war, with his parents and siblings, Senator Andy continued his education after the war at Boys High School Awkunanaw, Enugu State where he obtained his senior school certificate (SSCE). He gained admission abroad and was engaged in geological studies at Concordia University, Montreal Canada where he graduated with honors in 1984.

Senator Andy Uba's National Assembly webpageSahara Reporters Media“Dr. Uba who had further academic studies at the California State University later proceed to Buxton University in the United Kingdom where he earned a Doctor degree in Bio-Sciences in 1996.” Mr. Uba’s page on the official website of the National Assembly paints a muddled picture, reflecting the senator’s desire to mislead the public about his academic credentials. The page lists St. James Primary School in Uga and Union Secondary School, Awkunanaw, as one of three institutions attended by the senator, with “CALIFONIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES” (sic) as the third. However, the page leaves “date of graduation” from the primary and secondary schools blank. It also claims that Mr. Uba obtained “WASC” (West African School Certificate) from the elementary and secondary schools respectively. For California State University, Mr. Uba enters 2013 as his year of graduation. And then, in the space for “Certificate” obtained, he puts down “BA, P.HD, DPA AWARD” (sic). It is not surprising that Mr. Uba does not list Concordia University and “Buxton University” on his official senator’s page.

In a series of investigative reports done by this website in 2006 and 2007, we exposed the fraudulence of Senator Uba’s claims that he had earned degrees, including a PhD. In one of those investigative reports titled “Andy Uba: the Face of a Fraud,” we reported, “Our investigations into Andy Uba’s educational background determined that Andy Uba does not have a Bachelors degree from Concordia University (formerly Sir George Williams University)—a Canadian institution he claimed to have attended. The official records at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada indicate that he dropped out prior to completing the requirements for a Bachelor’s degree. The university’s alumni office of records told us that Concordia University has no record of Uba ever graduating from the school

“Our investigations also revealed a wrinkle in Uba’s claim to having obtained a Master’s degree from California State University. The official records we obtained from California State University indicated that the former presidential aide never earned a Master’s degree from there. In fact, he was never a graduate student of the said institution. The records of California State University show that Andy Uba was first enrolled at the school for an undergraduate program from March 1985 and dropped out March 1987 and then re-enrolled in September 27, 1990 till March 21, 1992 when he dropped out again, but never graduated.”

The claim on Mr. Uba’s website that he earned a doctorate degree from Buxton University in the United Kingdom shows the absurd lengths to which he went to fudge his academic records. Several major media in the US and elsewhere, including the Washington Post, have reported that Buxton University was never a university but a fraudulent operation, once based in Portugal, that sold all levels of “degrees” to anybody willing to pay a small fee. In 2004, an employee of a TV station in San Antonio, TX placed an order for a degree from a website called InstantDegrees.com. Within a few days, the employee received in the mail a master’s degree from Buxton University. In another instance the same year, an employee of another TV station based in Knoxville, Tennessee paid $160 and received by mail a PhD “degree” from the so-called Buxton University.

Buxton University is not recognized as a legitimate degree-awarding institution by any credible accrediting body in the world. In fact, since 2011, the shadowy operators of the sham degree merchant seem to have ceased all operations. There is no question that Senator Uba simply bought the alleged PhD in “bio-sciences” his official website claims he received from Buxton University in 1996.

During our original investigation in 2006, a UK-based Nigerian academic told this website, “Since [Mr. Uba] has no certifiable first degree, the idea of his holding a doctorate is, on the face of it, fraudulent.” He and other sources in the UK then emphasized that Buxton University was an unaccredited institution that was notorious for awarding bogus degrees to clients like Mr. Uba. In fact, Mr. Uba’s Wikipedia recognized the irregularity of the doctorate “degree” the senator claims to hold. According to an entry on Wikipedia, the senator “studied at California State University and then Buxton University, gaining a PhD in Biosciences in 1996. (Buxton University is incorporated in the Seychelles, and issues degrees to anyone who provides an employment background form and submits the fee.”

Mr. Uba, who in late January, 2017, announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), represents one of the most scandalous cases of Nigerian public officials who inflate their academic credentials to an extraordinary extent. His closest relatives and associates, including those who knew him when he resided in Canada and the US, openly admit that the only academic level he completed was the secondary school leaving certificate. Even then, his performance in the final WAEC tests was so unimpressive that he has forged new results. The impression on his website that he graduated from California State University in 2013 points to a desperate effort to cover the gaping holes in his past claims to having earned academic degrees.

In order to help cover his fraudulent claims, Mr. Uba swore to oaths at various courts claiming that some of his academic credentials were missing.

In 2011, Andy Uba’s INEC form C.F 001 claimed he attended Concordia University with “AWAITING ”

In a lawsuit filed by Mr. Ikechukwu Obiorah at the National Assembly Election Tribunal in Awka, Anambra State in 2011, the petition asked the Tribunal to invalidate the election in the Anambra South Senatorial District and order a re-run because Mr. Uba was not qualified to have run for the Upper House in the first place.

Drawing attention to Mr. Uba’s declaration that he attended tertiary institutions that include Concordia University Canada, and California State University, the petitioner claims that Mr. Uba could not have been admitted in those institutions of learning because he lacked the minimum entry requirement. The petitioner also challenged Mr. Uba’s declaration of a “Bachelor of Science (AWAITING) 1985 -1992” in his application, saying, “The 1st Respondent is presently not enrolled in any University to be expecting any Bachelor of Science twenty (20 )years after his last academic adventure.”

However, Sahara Reporters is in possession of a degree certificate forged by Mr. Uba when he served President Olusegun Obasanjo as his Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs before running for governor in Anambra State. In the certificate Mr. Uba claimed to have received the certificate in 1994.