The
Presidency has written the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
demanding a thorough probe of the alleged exemption certificate scandal
involving the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.
An online
newspaper, Premium Times had reported that the Minister who graduated
from London East Polytechnic at the age of 22 in 1989, failed to comply
with NYSC Act, which made it compulsory for every Nigerian graduate at
home or abroad to participate in one year of mandatory service to the
nation.
Following the uproar trailing the controversy, the
management of the NYSC said based on their records, Adeosun actually
applied for an exemption certificate but did not state whether the
request was granted or not.
A top source in the Presidency told
Daily Trust on Sunday that a formal request has been made, directing the
NYSC to investigate the forgery allegation against the minister.
The source said a formal letter was written to the NYSC and that the outcome of the investigation was being awaited.
At
the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday,
the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said since
NYSC has spoken on the issue, the federal government has done so.
The
NYSC enabling law prescribes punishment for anyone who absconds from
the scheme or forges its certificates and any eligible Nigerian who
skipped the service is liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment
and/or N2, 000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC law.
Section
13 (3) subsection 4 also criminalises giving false information or
illegally obtaining the agency’s certificate. It provides for up to
three-year jail term for such offenders.
According to official
credentials obtained by Premium Times the minister parades a purported
NYSC exemption certificate, which was issued in September 2009, granting
her exemption from the mandatory service on account of age.
The
newspaper claimed that Mrs Adeosun graduated in 1989 at 22 years from
the Polytechnic of East London. Her curriculum vitae indicated that she
was born in March 1967. It noted that the institution changed its name
to University of East London in 1992.
The report added that the
minister did not return to Nigeria for the one year NYSC programme but
remained in Britain for a career in the public and private sectors.
It
was gathered that she returned to Nigeria in 2002 and did not
participate in the NYSC programme but allegedly obtained a “fake”
certificate in 2009. The certificate was dated September 9, 2009, and
signed by Yusuf Bomoi, a former director-general of the corps. Bomoi was
dropped as director-general in January 2009.
However, the NYSC
in a statement by the Director, Press and Publications Relations, Mrs.
Adenike Adeyemi, said that based on their records, Adeosun actually
applied for an Exemption Certificate.
Few days into the
allegations, Minister of Youths and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung,
summoned the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Suleiman
Kazaure over the matter.
General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), who was
appointed Director-General in January 2009, told Premium Times that is
easy to identify a fake certificate. He explained that the corps has a
“strong room” where it can be proved if a certificate is genuine or not.
According
to him, it is not possible for a person who is below 30 years to be
granted an exemption waiver, pointing out that even if someone is
100-years- old, he/she must serve if it is discovered that the person
had not done so.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that unlike in
the past, the quick presidential directive for a probe into the matter
could be due to fears that the opposition could make political capital
out of it, especially coming a few months to the general elections.
It
would be recalled that it took the Presidency months before it took a
decision to probe and later sack the former Secretary to the Government
of the Federation, David Lawal Babachir, for alleged diversion of funds.
Culled fro dailytrust newspaper
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