Pat Utomi under fire for backing Anthony Kila in academic certificates controversy

Pat Utomi has faced backlash for defending Anthony Kila over questions about the authenticity of the academic qualifications and titles Kila claims.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Utomi, a political economist, described Kila as a “smart and good man” and called suggestions that he had never attended school “spectacularly stupid”.

However, Premium Times reports that several Facebook users objected, arguing that the defence focused on Kila’s intelligence and character rather than whether he obtained the qualifications attributed to him.

Ekokoi Solomon, a law lecturer at the University of Uyo, wrote: “Pat Utomi is saying something entirely different from the allegations against Mr Kila. The issue here is about spurious and fraudulent claims about certification.”

Babajide Brown added: “The fact that he talked intelligently and that he is a ‘good man’ is beside the point and totally irrelevant to the discourse.”

The backlash follows Premium Times investigations published on October 3 and 10, which questioned Kila’s professorial title and claimed qualifications. Kila maintains that he is a professor and stands by his credentials.

Utomi said he learnt about the controversy late and could not personally vouch for Kila’s documents.