Two ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu whose National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates are still subjects of controversies have been approved for appointment by the Nigerian Senate.
The President had forwarded the names of Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, a second-term member of the House of Representatives from Ondo State, and Hannatu Musawa from Katsina State for confirmation as members of his cabinet.
But the two nominees are enmeshed in controversies regarding their NYSC certificate and status.
The Senate also did not explain whether the questions raised on the duo’s NYSC statuses have been satisfactorily clarified or not.
A PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation picked holes in the NYSC certificate presented by Mr Tunji-Ojo.
Mr Tunji-Ojo claimed to have participated in the scheme between November 2019 and November 2020 but NYSC officials who didn’t want to be named for having no authority to speak on the matter, said the lawmaker’s claim is strange given that he was a sitting member of the House of Representatives during the same period.
Mr Tunji-Ojo’s NYSC certificate also contained discrepancies that raised strong questions as to its legitimacy.
His NYSC certificate, for instance, was issued in February and carries the signature of the incumbent NYSC Director General, Yushau Ahmed, a Brigadier General, who assumed office in January 2023 even though he claimed to have concluded the scheme in November 2020. Meanwhile, the NYSC said it doesn’t replace its certificate.
Mr Tunji-Ojo’s state code –9466– was also conspicuously missing in the ‘FCT KOPA’ 2019 Batch C, Stream II Magazine. The magazine contains the details of corps members who served in the same period as his certificate claimed.
PREMIUM TIMES has also written to the management of NYSC requesting the verification of the NYSC certificate tendered by the lawmaker.
On Ms Musawa
This newspaper had also reported how the Senate failed to question Ms Musawa’s NYSC status.
About three years ago, the 9th Nigerian Senate under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, rejected Ms Musawa when nominated for an appointment for what the lawmakers described as the nominee’s inability to present the certificate.
The Senate had demanded Ms Musawa’s NYSC discharge certificate or an exemption certificate but she could not provide any.
What NYSC law says
It is legally mandatory for all Nigerians who finished university in or outside Nigeria before the age of 30 to undergo the 12-month-long National Youth Service Scheme. Those who finished after the age of 30 are presented with an exemption certificate.
The NYSC was established by Decree Number 24 of 2 May 1973, and the latest amendment to the decree was in 2004.
According to Section 2(2) of the NYSC Act (2004), the only excluded Nigerians from the mandatory participation in the scheme are those who attained the age of 30 before their date of graduation; those who served in the Nigerian armed forces or the Police for more than nine months; staff of Nigerian security organisations, and those conferred with national honours.
Both Mr Tunji-Ojo and Ms Musawa do not fall into any of these exempted categories.
However, on Monday evening, the Senate unanimously confirmed both nominees as fit to be appointed as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria despite the lapses identified in their NYSC statuses.
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.
