The Labour Party Coalition for True Democracy, has called for the protection of the National Youth Service Scheme, from undue political interference in order to protect the sanctity of its certificates.
Spokesperson for the coalition, Mr Ken Asogwa, made the appeal on behalf of the group at a media briefing in Abuja.
According to Asogwa ,Nigerians need to stand up in defence of NYSC in order to shield it from the constant attempt by unscrupulous politicians to undermine it’s integrity.
The coalition spoke against the backdrop of the ongoing saga over the alleged NYSC certificate saga involving the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah.
Asogwa noted that politicians who didn’t participate in the mandatory one year service were desperate to game the system by parading fake certificates.
He alleged that a case in point was that of the Enugu State Gov. Peter Mbah whose NYSC’s certificate is a subject of an authenticity dispute.
Asogwa further said, “It is this desperation that has led him to different courts in both Enugu and Abuja where he has made efforts to procure black market judgements to forestall the inquiry into how he procured the fake NYSC discharge certificate that he parades.
“In one of such desperate moves by Mbah, he made attempts to gag the NYSC by getting a pliant judge to issue him with a black market order that sought to abridge and erode the powers of the Enugu State Governorship Election Tribunal and the NYSC, constitutionally created bodies, from carrying out their statutory and constitutional functions.
“Since the revelation by the NYSC and its Director-General that the newly sworn-in governor of Enugu State, Mbah, parades a forged NYSC discharge certificate, the governor has launched a syndicated campaign of calumny against the NYSC and its Director-General.
“At a time the NYSC is celebrating 50 years of unblemished existence and service to Nigerians, Peter Mbah should be restrained by all well-meaning Nigerians before he destroys that revered institution.”
Asogwa alleged that Mbah has had several criminal records in the past and the recent one highlighted it .
“Currently, Peter Mbah is back in his elements, trying to destroy both the judiciary and the NYSC in a desperate bid to foist himself on the Enugu people who rejected him at the poll.”
