Aviation
Oduah’s PhD certificate is fake –U.S. Education Agency
…Scandal, indictment on Presidency, NASS, says Agoro
LAGOS – The scandal surrounding an alleged certificate forgery by Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, is not likely to fizzle out quickly, as the American National Centre for Education Statistics told an online medium, ‘Premium Times’, on Thursday that the Pacific Christian University, Glendale, which she claimed awarded her a doctoral degree, does not exist.
The National Centre for Education Statistics is an agency under the U.S. Department of Education.
Responding to an inquiry from the medium, the spokesperson for the agency, which maintains a comprehensive and up-to-date database of all American public and private educational institutions, said: “Thank you for your inquiry. I do not see a university in our database that is Pacific Christian University in Glendale”.
She, however, suggested that the closest to Pacific Christian University in the database might be Hope International University in Fullerton, which, she believed, used to be known as Pacific Christian College.
Contacted, Every Delarosa of the registrar’s office at Hope International University confirmed that the institution used to be known as Pacific Christian College and not Pacific Christian University as Oduah indicated in her resume.
Even at that, Delarosa insisted Oduah could not be referring to Hope University because the institution changed its name from Pacific Christian College in 1997 while Oduah claimed she was awarded a doctorate in Business Administration 1998.
The Hope University official also explained that the institution, even when it was known as Pacific Christian College, had never had a campus in Glendale.
She said the university was based in Long Beach city at the time.
“We do not have any records of any candidate by the name Stella Oduah or related names,” Delarosa said, after poring through the university record. “Whether now that we are Hope University and in the past when we were Pacific Christian College, we did not give any such person a degree here.”
The aviation minister had claimed on oath to the Senate during her confirmation hearing on July 2, 2011 that a Pacific Christian University awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1998.
On page four of the document, the minister claimed the university, which, she said, was based in Glendale, awarded her an honorary doctorate in Business Administration.
It was based on this document that she was grilled and eventually confirmed by the Senators.
But investigations have revealed that no university called Pacific Christian University existed in the United States.
Hours were spent on Wednesday searching the U.S. Department of Education’s National Centre for Education Statistics database by state (California), city (Glendale) and name of institution (Pacific Christian University).
Yet, nothing came up in the name of the university Oduah claimed gave her an honorary doctorate.
According to the database, there are six colleges (universities) in Glendale, a city of 191,719 inhabitants in Los Angeles County, in the state of California.
The colleges are American Medical Sciences Centre, Brand College, Glendale Career College, Glendale Community and North-West College.
There is no such university known as Christian Pacific College as claimed by the minister.
Efforts to get the spokespersons for the minister to comment for this story were unsuccessful.
Joe Obi, her special assistant on media, did not answer or return calls.
Yakubu Datti, spokesperson of the aviation agencies, who usually speaks for her, answered the call by the online medium but immediately said he would call back but he did not.
Oduah, and her associates have been cleaning up the minister’s biographies on the internet, following allegations that she lied about her academic qualifications.
The minister claimed she got Bachelor and Masters Degrees from St. Paul’s College.
But after it became clear she might not have earned a Master’s from that university, Oduah edited her biography on the website of the Ministry of Aviation, with references to St. Paul’s College removed.
The Wikipedia page of the minister was also edited and it now has no reference to the university Oduah attended.
All links and reference materials on the Wikipedia page capable of linking the minister to the university were also deleted.
Even the minister’s personal website was reviewed to remove any reference to St. Paul’s College.
Oduah had since October been enmeshed in N255 million armoured cars scandal in which she was accused of compelling an agency under her supervision, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to buy her two exotic bulletproof cars at suspected inflated prices.
The House of Representatives has since asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the minister but the President has failed to act.
Presidential candidate of the National Action Council (NAC) in the last general elections, Olapade Agoro, while reacting to the certificate scandal on Thursday in Ibadan noted that the certificate scandal, said it is a great indictment on the National Assembly.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Independent, Agoro argued that Nigerians would ask questions on how the “Oduah who possibly never has more than school certificate got cleared for the ministerial appointment by the National Assembly.”
He called on the minister to resign her appointment, saying “if Oduah has a name to protect, she should have resigned during the N250 million bulletproof cars scandal, rather than waiting for the worst scandal to unveil”.
Agoro also called on the Inspector General (IG) of Police and other security agents to immediately set up a probe of the minister, and to ensure that she does not only resign, but that she was made to face the law.
“Show me your friend, and I will tell you whom you are, says an English adage. Also, they say that birds of the same feather flock together. The Oduah’s case is a great indictment on the Presidency and the National Assembly members.
“Character and way of life of those leading a nation will definitely have effects on the people of the nation. Stella Uduah should not be allowed to remain as a minister in Nigeria if the allegation of certificate forgery against her is true.
“One can see that in her time, Nigerian has recorded the worst of accidents in the aviation industry as if the gods are angry,” Agoro added.
– DAILY INDEPENDENT
An Air Peace flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt has suffered a disruption, after the aircraft was affected by a bird strike on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
The airline made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Osifo-Whiskey Efe.
He added that the incident necessitated safety checks on the affected aircraft and the deployment of another aircraft to convey passengers on subsequent flights.
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“We deeply empathise with passengers affected by this unforeseen incident and are working diligently to minimise disruptions,” Efe said.
The latest incident adds to the growing challenge of bird strikes faced by local airlines.
In December 2025, Air Peace disclosed that it recorded 49 bird strikes across Nigeria between January and September, stressing that even a single strike could ground an aircraft for weeks.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, had said on Arise TV that bird strikes constituted a major operational challenge, often leading to costly repairs and serious disruptions to flight schedules.
“One bird strike could cripple your aircraft for the next month. At that moment, there is no two ways about it. These bird strikes often lead to costly delays and serious disruptions in flight schedules,” he said.
He added that losses from such incidents compound other challenges facing Nigerian airlines, including heavy taxation and operational constraints.
With the firm belief that it is both sadistic and absolutely despicable, the recently announced outrageous hike in airfares to South East from Abuja to Lagos for Yuletide of 2025 by over 131 percent by Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines, the owners have been asked to immediately have a rethink and review backward these harsh, toxic and unfriendly airfares targeting Igbo passengers exclusively.
Making the charge to the chairmen of Air Peace and United Nigeria airlines, Mr. Allen Ugochukwu and Mr. Obiora Okonkwo, the prominent civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) expressed anger that these businesses whose proprietors are Igbo by birth are fond of making it so difficult for hundreds of thousands of Igbo passengers residing outside of the South-East to travel home on Christmas festivities.
The rights group say that for many years now, because Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines are monopolies and then Igbos have the tradition exclusively in Nigeria of going home to South East from all over the globe during Yuletides, these few airlines have decidedly fixed toxic ticketing airfares for Igbos whereas northerners who also travel during their religious festivities of salah are not subjected to such exploitative treatments.
The HURIWA accused the two airlines of price fixing, which is anti-competition just as the Rights group said it is giving these two Igbo-hating airlines to review backward their toxic and discriminatory airfares within ten working days from today or it will petition the federal government publicly funding consumer rights body[Federal Competition and Consumer Rights Commission) in Abuja.
The HURIWA wonders if these Igbo owners of private airlines known for making their planes available to government for free during emergencies are in a conspiratorial plots with haters of Igbo land who are unhappy at the convivial and happy atmospheres in the South East during Yuletide, just as the rights group has appealed to Igbo governors to immediately intervene and urge Mr. Allen Ugochukwu and Mr Obiora Okonkwo to treat the Igbo just as they treat for instance northern Muslims who also migrate home to northern Nigeria from around the globe during their Muslim festivities because what is good for the goose, is good for the gander.
The HURIWA said that if Air Peace Airlines have gotten involved in many humanitarian efforts of airlifting Nigerians from outside of our shores for free, it becomes of the Airline ought not to maltreat their clients of Igbo extraction.
The HURIWA quoted from the business official website of Air Peace in which it described its latest humanitarian effort to be an addition to a growing list of interventions by Dr. Allen Onyema and Air Peace.
Quoting Air Peace website, HURIWA stated that Air Peace said thus: “In 2019, the airline airlifted 503 Nigerians free of charge from South Africa amidst xenophobic attacks. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Air Peace conducted multiple repatriation flights. In 2022, the airline flew Nigerian evacuees out of war-torn Ukraine. In May 2023, Dr. Onyema again deployed Air Peace aircraft to evacuate 277 stranded Nigerians from Sudan.
As the rescued women prepare to begin a new chapter, supported by medical care and reintegration efforts, one truth stands out: Air Peace is more than just an airline — it is a bridge of hope for Nigerians in crisis, and a national symbol of empathy, courage and service,” HURIWA conclusively quoted Air Peace.
The HURIWA therefore strongly condemns the two airlines for hiking and fixing unaffordable airfares indiscriminately against Igbo passengers, even as the festive season draws near, Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines have raised their return ticket fares to N677,000, a move that could add financial strain on travellers. The rise in airfares reflects the high demand expected during the holiday rush.
Key Points
Air Peace and United Nigeria increase return ticket fares to N677,000 for the yuletide season.
Airfares on routes to the South-East, including Enugu and Anambra, experience the highest surge.
Ibom Air offers comparatively cheaper tickets, with return fares at N381,600.
Air Peace’s one-way fare for December to January peaks at N350,500.
United Nigeria will also charge N350,500 for select routes between December 11 and the end of the year.
Northern routes, including Lagos-Kano, face smaller increases, with fares starting from N106,900.
Experts predict even higher airfares, with one-way tickets possibly reaching N500,000.
The rise in flight prices signals the start of a challenging holiday travel season, with airfares higher than usual due to increased demand. Travelers must be prepared for the surge, with some routes seeing even higher fare projections.
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The HURIWA is hereby warning the two airlines to withdraw their price fixing malpractices against Igbos or else the Rights group would seek justice and redress for the millions of Igbos who would return home for the 2025 Yuletide from the Federal Competition and Consumer Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria. The HURIWA threatened to drag the two airlines to the Nigerian President through the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Transportation.
An Abuja-Accra flight experienced technical difficulties mid-air on Friday, forcing it to return to Abuja, shortly after departure.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Board (NSIB) made the disclosure in a statement, adding that it has launched investigation into what it described as a serious accident.
Director, Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji stated that preliminary investigations revealed the aircraft experienced an engine number two indication issue.
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It was gathered that the aircraft, with registration number 5NKAL which was operating a flight from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja (DNAA), to Kotoka International Airport, Accra (DGAA).
She explained that four persons were onboard when the incident occurred. The crew immediately requested for a diversion back to Abuja due to the engine indication.
Oladeji added that the crew managed to safely land the aircraft at Abuja Airport at 18:16 UTC.
There were no injuries reported, and all individuals on board are safe.
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