The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has dismissed as “nonsense borne out of ignorance” allegations that former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, deliberately continued to collect government salary months after his resignation.
HURIWA, reacting to a petition by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), said Nnaji neither put himself on the government payroll nor authorised the continued payments.
The rights group said the former minister, upon discovering that salary and emolument payments had continued after his exit from office, promptly notified the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and sought instructions on how to refund the money.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA said it was wrong to portray the former minister as having deliberately enriched himself from the payments.
“This allegation is nonsense. It’s borne out of ignorance because the former Minister is not the person paying himself and when he found out, he reported to the SGF and followed it up by demanding that what was paid in error should be taken back,” the group said.
HURIWA also claimed that the ICPC had previously investigated the issue and did not find Nnaji culpable in relation to the continued salary payments.
The organisation challenged HEDA to explain why it was demanding fresh criminal allegations against Nnaji without adequately addressing evidence that he had reported the alleged payroll error himself.
The controversy followed a petition by HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, asking the ICPC to investigate the alleged continued payment of salary and allowances to Nnaji months after his resignation.
Nnaji resigned as minister on October 7, 2025.
HEDA’s petition reportedly relied on IPPIS records which allegedly showed that Nnaji remained listed under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as “Hon Minister” as recently as June 2026.
The organisation alleged that the former minister received a net payment of ₦170,282.61 for June, while cumulative earnings of ₦5,845,601.13 were reportedly recorded on the system.
HEDA said the alleged continued presence of a former minister on the government payroll raised questions about the accountability of officials responsible for maintaining and supervising IPPIS.
It asked the ICPC to identify those responsible for approving the payments, recover any public funds wrongly disbursed and consider additional allegations including salary fraud, unlawful enrichment and payroll manipulation if wrongdoing is established.
But HURIWA said documents available to it showed that Nnaji had taken steps to alert government authorities after discovering that payments had continued following his resignation.
In a letter addressed to the SGF, Nnaji described the continued payments as an “apparent administrative error” and requested instructions, computation and designated government account details to facilitate a full refund.
He said the payments had “inadvertently continued” beyond his exit from office and requested immediate rectification.
Nnaji subsequently wrote Fidelity Bank on June 25, 2026, instructing the bank to debit his account and remit money to the Federal Government through the Remita platform under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The stated purpose of the transaction was “Refund of salary paid after resignation from office.”
HURIWA argued that the documents undermined any suggestion that Nnaji deliberately orchestrated the continued payments.
The group said the central issue should instead be how a former minister remained on the federal payroll months after his resignation and which government officials were responsible for the failure to deactivate his records.
The rights group also accused civil society organisations of risking being used by politicians to settle political scores ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Civil society groups should avoid being used by politicians to play their dirty politics of 2027 poll,” HURIWA said.
The organisation urged HEDA to produce evidence showing that Nnaji personally authorised or manipulated the alleged continued payments before linking him to criminal conduct.
HURIWA said the ICPC should investigate the entire payroll chain, including the officials who maintained Nnaji’s profile on IPPIS, processed the payments and supervised the system.
“If public funds were wrongly disbursed, recover them. If officials were negligent, sanction them. If officials deliberately manipulated the payroll, prosecute them,” the group said.
“But do not manufacture criminality where the documentary trail points to an administrative error that the alleged beneficiary himself reported and sought to correct.”
The controversy comes against the backdrop of a separate ICPC investigation involving Nnaji over allegations concerning his academic credentials. The former minister was arrested in Abuja on July 1 and later arraigned before the Federal High Court on six counts bordering on certificate forgery and money laundering.
The case has been adjourned until September 21.