A senior officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Commandant Appolos Dandaura, has said he will let the law take its course in the ongoing probe by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission into his university certificate.
Mr Dandaura who is serving in the intelligence squad of the NSCDC’s Commandant-General, Ahmed Audi, is being probed by the commission over alleged forged academic documents.
The probe followed a petition by a human rights lawyer and activist, Joseph Aliu, in December 2025, asking the ICPC to investigate alleged discrepancies in Mr Dandaura’s academic records.
Following an inquiry by Peoples Gazette, spokesperson for the ICPC, Okor Odey, said that the ICPC had commenced an inquiry into the allegations following receipt of the petition.
“The Department of Operations confirmed it (the petition) was received and it is being investigated,” Mr Odey told The Gazette.
Contacted by The Gazette on Thursday, Mr Dandaura said he could not make clarifications on the matter but would let the law take its course.
“It is an issue that is under investigation, and I won’t be in the best position of talking over the issue. It is the outcome of the investigation that everyone awaits. I want to allow the law take its course,” Mr Dandaura said.
The December 23, 2025, petition seen by The Gazette urged the anti-corruption commission to investigate what it describes as “grave allegations of fake certificates and undue career progression” involving Mr Dandaura.
Copies of academic statements of results purportedly obtained from the Nasarawa State College of Agriculture were attached to the petition as evidence and marked as exhibits.
Also, purported copy of a University of Calabar certificate belonging to Mr Dandaura, attached to the petition does not carry a matric number, contrary to some of the university certificates from seen by our correspondent.
The petitioner, Mr Aliu argued that the allegations raise serious public interest and national security concerns, noting that integrity within law enforcement agencies was critical to public trust and operational effectiveness.
Mr Aliu also invoked the Freedom of Information Act, and formally requested that the ICPC obtains and releases certified true copies of academic certificates submitted by Mr Dandaura from the point of recruitment, as well as certified records of his career progression and promotion letters.
He further warned that allowing officers to rise through the ranks on the basis of questionable credentials could undermine discipline and professionalism across the service.
Meanwhile, when contacted over the development on Thursday, the NSCDC denied recruiting Mr Dandaura into the corps with a fake certificate.
“For him to have been recruited into the NSCDC, we couldn’t have accepted a fake certificate,” the NSCDC spokesperson, Babawale Afolabi, told The Gazette on Thursday.
