A storm of controversy has hit the Anambra governorship race after a school-leaving examination result, reportedly belonging to Nicholas Ukachukwu, the APC candidate, surfaced online.
The document, allegedly his May/June 1986 GCE result from Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, shows that Ukachukwu — popularly known as Ikukuoma — failed English Language, Mathematics, and Economics. He managed only passes in Igbo, Bible Knowledge, Biology, and Commerce, with a lone credit in Chemistry.
The result, shared by human rights lawyer Prof. Chidi Odunkalu on his X handle, has set social media buzzing, with critics questioning Ukachukwu’s competence and the APC’s judgment in fielding him as a candidate. For many, it raises fresh concerns about Nigeria’s political vetting system.
Ukachukwu has yet to confirm or deny the document’s authenticity, while INEC, which earlier published candidates’ academic records for scrutiny, has received no formal petition against his credentials so far.
The uproar echoes past controversies, including those over President Bola Tinubu’s Chicago State University records during the 2023 presidential election. Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, now a critic of Tinubu, recently admitted that political leaders knew of Tinubu’s discrepancies but backed him anyway, hoping he would replicate his Lagos model nationally.
“We all knew about his issues in Chicago,” El-Rufai told BBC, “but we thought if he could replicate his Lagos success for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”
The unfolding drama around Ukachukwu has now placed the APC on the defensive as questions about integrity, competence, and transparency once again dominate Nigeria’s political space.
