Ex NYSC officials doubt Adeosun’s exemption certificate

Two former senior officials of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have expressed doubts of the agency issuing finance minister Kemi Adeosun an NYSC exemption certificate.

Premium Times accused the minister of forging her exemption certificate, a document issued to Nigerians excluded from carrying out the mandatory one-year national youth service.

An exemption letter is issued to anyone who is older than 30 years or has served a minimum of 9 months in any Nigerian force.

NYSC said it is investigating the allegation of certificate forgery. It, however, said on Monday that the minister did apply for an exemption certificate.

“Checking our records, Mrs Adeosun did apply for an Exemption Certificate. We shall investigate the origin of the purported exemption certificate in question,” said Adeyemi Adenike, NYSC’s director of press and Public relations,

Anthony Ani, a former director of mobilization at NYSC, however, said the Corps does not issue such certificate to people through an application.

“Section 2 of the NYSC act categorically stated that once you’ve graduated, you go for mobilization. You don’t apply for NYSC certificate or exemption certificate,” Ani told Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily.

“It is the system that will determine if you are exempted or not.
Ani said the section is effective regardless of whether a candidate graduated in Nigeria or elsewhere.”

Maharazu Tsiga, who was NYSC boss in 2009, the year that appeared on the Adeosun’s certificate, said there was no way he would have approved an exemption certificate for the minister even if she applied.

Tsiga also insisted that there was no way his predecessor Major-General Yusuf Bomoi would have signed the certificate issued to Adeosun when he was no longer the boss of the Corps.

“There is no way that somebody would come and sign after hand over,” he told Premium Times on Thursday.

Both former officials insisted that verifying the authenticity of Adeosun’s certificate is not a difficult process. Tsiga said the NYSC has a “strong room” where it can easily verify the document.

“I believe from there they can easily identify if a certificate is issued by the NYSC or not,” he said.