INVESTIGATION: How Anthony Kila falsified all his academic qualifications – from Bachelor’s to Doctorate

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Beyond faking his professorship, Anthony Kila, the now-suspended Pro-Chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), also falsified his academic records, PREMIUM TIMES can now report.

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The PREMIUM TIMES investigation that exposed him as a fake professor stunned Nigerians and many people worldwide, including those who regularly watch him on television, listen to him on the radio, and read him in newspapers pontificating about the need for honesty and transparency in governance and in public and private lives.

Many wondered how he managed to wear the fake academic rank for more than a decade without suspicion. Others wondered why he did not stick to a ‘Dr’ title, given the PhD they believed he had.

However, this second part of a five-month investigation into Mr Kila’s credentials has now revealed that he also falsified the Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees he claimed to have obtained from multiple universities in the United Kingdom and Italy. This revelation has raised serious questions about whether he attended and completed any post-secondary institution at all.

Mr Kila told our reporter he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Classic Studies from Università per Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, followed by a Master of Arts (MA) in European Studies from the same institution in 1991.

He also claimed a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in Media and Communication from the University of Essex in 1992 and a Master of Science (MSc) in International Banking and Finance from City University London (now City St George’s, University of London) in 1994.

In addition, Mr Kila claimed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Economy from the University of Perugia in 1997, followed by a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Aston University, Birmingham, in 2002.

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He also claimed he earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCE) from Cambridge in 2006 and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the same institution in 2009.

But PREMIUM TIMES can now report that Mr Kila’s age-old claims are false. These academic credentials, just like his professorship, were all made up.

While some universities contacted by this newspaper disowned him outright, others said they do not offer the programmes that could have yielded the certificates he claimed to have obtained.

When presented with our findings this week, Mr Kila said he was still gathering his academic records and therefore unable to provide evidence of these degrees.

“I am currently putting together my academic and professional documents, and they will be ready soon,” he told our reporter via email.

The fake professorship

This newspaper’s enquiry into Mr Kila’s academic credentials began five months ago with a probe into his professorship, a rank he publicly claimed for many years.

He told our reporter that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) made him a professor and a Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development in 2016. But this newspaper found that the institution does not exist.

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which administers the Jean Monnet actions, also disowned his claimed Jean Monnet Professorship.

Days after the PREMIUM TIMES exposé, the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU) suspended him as pro-chancellor, a role he has held since August 2025.

Scrutinising Mr Kila’s academic qualifications

In May, after our investigation flagged Mr Kila’s educational and professorial credentials, PREMIUM TIMES reached out to him and requested a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) listing his institutions and qualifications, as well as the places he has worked over the years.

Mr Kila referred our reporter to his profile on the website of the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), an organisation he controls. MCIU also published the profile on its website, then removed it after our investigation exposed Mr Kila’s fake professorship.

The profile did not state which schools he attended or the qualifications he obtained. It listed several qualifications, including an LLM, an MBA, an MSc, a PhD, a PGD, and a PGCE.

“Anthony studied in Cambridge, London, Perugia, and Suffolk. He graduated with a first-class degree in political economy and later specialised in political anthropology. He has taught in various colleges and universities in Cambridge, Ipswich, Lecce, London, Perugia, and Siena,” the profile read.

The reporter then contacted Mr Kila and asked him to share his detailed curriculum vitae so PREMIUM TIMES could produce a detailed profile. He partly obliged, perhaps salivating at the prospect of a promotional article about him in this newspaper.

Mr Kila’s claimed degrees

One Thursday morning in May, Mr Kila sent a list of institutions he claimed to have attended and the qualifications he obtained from each.

In the brief resume he shared, Mr Kila listed a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Classic Studies from Università per Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, followed by a Master of Arts (MA) in European Studies from the same institution in 1991.

He claimed a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Media and Communication from the University of Essex in 1992 and a Master of Science (MSc) in International Banking and Finance from City University London (now City St George’s, University of London) in 1994.

According to the list, he also obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Economy from the University of Perugia in 1997, followed by a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Aston University, Birmingham, in 2002.

He also claimed a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCE) from Cambridge in 2006 and a Master of Laws (LLM) from Cambridge in 2009.

Discrepancies

This newspaper immediately observed that the resume he shared contradicted his public profile.

For instance, he claimed to have graduated with a first-class degree in political economy and later specialised in political anthropology. But the resume he shared did not mention any first-class degree or any first degree in political economy. Instead, the resume listed his first degree as BA Classic Studies from Università per Stranieri, Perugia, Italy.

So, we set out to verify the degrees from each university, emailing each institution to confirm whether he attended and graduated with the degrees he claimed.

First Roadblock: Data Privacy Law

But the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the UK and Europe became a major roadblock in the verification process.

Between May and July, the universities said they could not respond to third-party requests, citing UK and EU data protection law.

For instance, City St George’s University of London said the information sought is personal and is exempt from disclosure under the UK Freedom of Information Act and the GDPR.

“To even confirm whether or not the information is held would involve the release of personal data about the data subject,” the university said in a reply to PREMIUM TIMES’ request.

Some universities, including Aston University and the University of Cambridge, referred our reporter to third-party verification websites like the UK’s Higher Education Diploma Datacheck (HEDD) service. But these services required the candidate, in this case Mr Kila, to give written consent for the request to be granted.

PREMIUM TIMES therefore continued its investigation into his professorship, since we had already determined it was false.

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which administers the Jean Monnet Actions, had already responded to our request, saying it knew nothing about Mr Kila.

We also determined that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS), which he said awarded him the professorship in 2016, did not exist.

Renewed Scrutiny of Kila’s degrees

However, after investigating his professorship, this newspaper contacted the universities again.

In the emails, this newspaper also asked the universities to clarify whether they ever offered the academic programmes he claimed and whether he obtained them during the period he claimed.

PREMIUM TIMES told the universities the information sought was in the public interest and for fact-checking.

This time, most replied, including City St George’s University of London, Aston University, the University of Perugia, Università per Stranieri, Perugia, and Università per Stranieri, Siena.

Universities disown Kila’s degrees

In its reply, Aston University disclaimed Mr Kila’s 2002 Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

“There is no record in Aston University’s student registry of an Anthony Kila studying for an MBA,” an Aston University spokesperson told our reporter in an email.

The City St George’s University of London told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Kila’s claims differ from its records.

The institution, which said it provided the information only in the public interest, said Mr Kila enrolled in a one-year Banking and International Finance programme in 2000 but was ‘deregistered’ and didn’t complete it.

“They (Mr Kila) began their degree on 18/09/2000, with an expected end date of 31/10/2001,” the university’s press office told PREMIUM TIMES.

‘Their actual end date was 30/06/2001, and were deregistered from their course the same year. So, it appears they were on a one-year course that they did not complete.”  It remains unclear which bachelor’s degree Mr Kila used in enrolling for the course and why he was deregistered.

Mr Kila also said he got a Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Communication from the University of Essex in 1992.

But the university told PREMIUM TIMES that it doesn’t offer a PGD in Media and Communications and has never offered the programme.

“We do not offer this course, and we have not offered this course in the past,” the university said in a live chat with our reporter.

Non-existent academic programmes

While other universities did not respond specifically to Mr Kila’s case, they confirmed they do not offer the programmes and qualificationss he claimed from them.

For instance, the University of Perugia, where Mr Kila claims to have obtained his PhD in Political Economy in 1997, told this newspaper that its economics department does n’ot award doctoral degrees in political economy. It also directed our reporter to its website, where it lists all its academic programmes.

“The Department of Economics offers a PhD programme in Economics – Institutions, Business, and Quantitative Methods,” the university said in an email to our reporter.

The university’s website also shows it has never offered a doctorate in political economy.

The university’s political science department offers a PhD in four specialities: Legality, Political Cultures, Democracy and Politics/Public Policies/Globalisation. There is none in political economy.

Mr Kila also claimed to have obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classic Studies from Università per Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, and a Master of Arts in European Studies from the same institution in 1991.

PREMIUM TIMES found more than one Università per Stranieri in Italy. There is one in Perugia and one in Siena. Although Mr Kila claimed he attended the one in Perugia, we contacted both.

“At the following link you will find all the information relating to our undergraduate and graduate degree programmes,” the Perugia-based university told our reporter in an email.

A review of the institution’s historical records shows that it has never offered a BA in Classic Studies or an MA in European Studies. Yet, Mr Kila said he earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the university.

Our investigation revealed that the university never offered Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes during the period he claimed to have attended.

The university offers BA courses in International and Advertising Communication, Italian Language and Culture in the Digital World, Made in Italy, Food and Hospitality, and Social Sciences for Sustainability and International Cooperation.

The university offers Master’s courses in Advertising, Communication, Storytelling and Image Culture; Italian for Teaching Foreigners; International Relations and Development Cooperation; Italian Food Management and Culture; Teaching Italian as a Non-Native Language; Contemporary Journalism; and Urban and Territorial Regeneration and Resilience.

According to the university’s historical archive, it began offering Bachelor’s degrees only in 1992 and postgraduate degrees after 1999, following the implementation of the European Bologna Process, which established the modern two-year graduate degree framework.

Before then, it only offered non-degree courses in Italian literature, the history of Italian art, and the history of Italian music. Yet, Mr Kila claimed he earned a BA from there in 1989 and an MA in 1991.

Even if Mr Kila claims he attended the Università per Stranieri in Siena, the courses he claims to have studied have never been offered there either.

The university told PREMIUM TIMES in an email that it offers three degree programmes: Italian Language and Culture; Linguistic and Cultural Mediation; and Multilingualism, Translation and Interpreting.

At the Master’s level, the courses available are Letters, Teaching and Publishing; Linguistic Sciences and Intercultural Communication; Languages, Cooperation and Diversity; and Archaeology and Art Histories.

READ ALSO: Fake Professorship: Michael and Cecilia Ibru University suspends Anthony Kila

LLM, PGCE from Cambridge?

Mr Kila also claimed to have obtained a Master of Laws degree from the University of Cambridge in 2009.

The university has yet to respond to our enquiry. However, it is unlikely that Mr Kila attended the institution, as his available qualification records showed he could not have been admitted.

Cambridge, one of the world’s oldest universities, is known for its strict admission requirements. A review of the LLM admission requirements found that the university requires applicants to have at least a first-class law degree.

“Successful applicants will typically be placed well within the top 10 per cent of law students in their jurisdiction,” the university said.

“In exceptional and rare circumstances, you may be considered without a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Law provided you can demonstrate that academically you are within the top 10 per cent of lawyers in your jurisdiction.”

Mr Kila would not have qualified for admission to such a programme, since there’s no evidence that he ever enrolled in or earned a law degree. He also did not claim one in his profile or the resume he shared with our reporter.

Mr Kila also claimed to have obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2006. Although he used the acronym PGCE, the qualification he listed was a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, not a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

The University of Cambridge does offer a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), but that is a different qualification from the one Mr Kila claimed.

The university’s closest equivalent to the qualification he named is the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education. It is a Master’s-level course, open only to “Cambridge teaching staff with a minimum of three years’ experience of teaching in higher education”.

Since there’s no evidence Mr Kila ever taught at Cambridge, he could not have enrolled on the programme.

While Mr Kila claimed he obtained the certificate in 2006, the university’s website showed the programme began only in 2017.

Kila speaks

PREMIUM TIMES emailed these findings to Mr Kila and messaged him via his known WhatsApp line.

In his email reply, he said he was still contacting the institutions he associated with and couldn’t get the requested evidence in time.

“You are still on my case. I have been reading everything you have posted, and I still wonder who will benefit from my destruction,” he wrote to our reporter.

“I am currently putting together my academic and professional documents, and they will be ready soon. I started contacting the institutions I am associated with on Monday, and these documents cannot be ready by Thursday, as you are requesting here. As you can imagine, gathering these documents is a top priority for me.”