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NYSC DG lied on Mbah’s certificate, says PDP

By Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and Azeez Olorunlomeru (Lagos)
20 May 2023   |   5:27 am
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, yesterday, faulted the claim by the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed that the discharge certificate of the possession of Enugu State Governor-elect, Dr. Peter Mbah, was not issued by it.

Dr. Peter Mbah

Accuses agency of contempt, conspiracy, deceit, others

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, yesterday, faulted the claim by the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed that the discharge certificate of the possession of Enugu State Governor-elect, Dr. Peter Mbah, was not issued by it.

The party, however, said Ahmed’s claim was in sync with the agency’s conspiracy, deceit and willful misrepresentation of facts, which necessitated Mbah’s N20 billion lawsuit against NYSC.

PDP equally described as an irony, a situation where the DG said he would not want to comment on the matter since it was in court, only to go ahead to not only deny knowledge of the lawsuit and consequent court order, but also to act in clear contempt of the court.

Recall that Ahmed, who was a guest on Arise Television’s breakfast programme on Friday, allegedly said that he told the PDP candidate in the 2023 governorship elections that what he presented as a NYSC certificate was fake.

Ahmed furthered that the discharge certificate being paraded by Mbah was not issued by it.

Ahmed was quoted as saying, “He (Mbah) came to me and I called my director to confirm the certificate and we discovered that the certificate was fake and I told him. I wonder how elites, who have gone to school would resort to black market certificates. Everyone knows how we issue our certificate in NYSC, we don’t give it in the hotel rooms or houses.”

However, the PDP’s director of communications and spokesperson of the Enugu State Campaign Council for the 2023 general elections, Barr Nana Ogbodo, who stated these at a press conference yesterday, insisted that Ahmed lied.

He said, “We should have viewed with surprise, the false claim by Ahmed on national television this morning, but has not said anything new as his statements were in sync with the continued conspiracy, deceit, and willful misrepresentation of facts. This action and that of its Director of Corps Certification, Mr. Ibrahim Muhammad, necessitated N20 billion lawsuit by Mbah against the agency and Muhammad.

“The DG lied when he claimed that he told Mbah during a meeting in his office that the NYSC did not issue his certificate. The truth is that he told Mbah that the director in question neither briefed nor cleared with him before issuing the letter dated February 1, 2023 disclaiming Dr. Mbah’s discharge certificate.

“He equally expressed surprise when Mbah showed him the letter by the NYSC national headquarters dated 7th May 2003 (reference number NYSC/DHQ/CM/27/20) to the State Director, Lagos, NYSC, re-mobilising him for the remaining part of his service year after a break, by the express and written permission of the agency to complete Bar Part II (Bar Final).

“Excerpt from the re-mobilisation letter states: ‘I am directed to refer to your letter of 24th April, Reference No. LA/01/1532/T on the above subject matter and to request you to re-instate the corps member to continue his service year from where he stopped, with effect from May 2003.’

“It is noteworthy that the Directors and staff present at the meeting did not deny the fact that NYSC authored the letter re-mobilising Mbah, while his place of primary assignment, Udeh & Associates, Lagos, has not denied that it authored the letter reabsorbing him to complete the remaining months of his service year as well as the final clearance letter to enable him receive his NYSC discharge certificate at the end of his service.

“The DG actually told Dr. Mbah that he was barely three months in office at the time, but would resolve the matter with dispatch. But it is striking that the NYSC is yet to formally respond to Mbah’s petition since February 2, 2023. Instead, the NYSC, through its Director of Corps Certification, has continued to issue letters of disclaimer to various political interests in Enugu State, in clear contempt of a subsisting court judgment upholding the authenticity of his certificate and in relentless disparagement of his reputation,” the PDP stated.

The party wondered why Mbah would go through all the rigorous process to serve his fatherland only to end up forging a certificate, saying it was irrational to contemplate.

PDP furthered that it underlined the fact that the final verdict on the genuineness or otherwise of Mbah’s NYSC certificate did not rest with the agency, and urged it to face the N20 billion lawsuit in the court where the agency also has the right to subpoena other relevant agencies in the production and authentication of NYSC certificates to give evidence.

The party added, “NYSC discharge certificates are printed by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company PLC. They have security features such as watermarks and serial numbers denoting the batches. We, therefore, challenge the NYSC to produce any other certificate in the series of Mbah’s certificate that has the same serial number as his.”

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