Coalition berates NYSC over involvement in politics

A coalition of 150 civil society organizations, under the aegis of Advocates of Truth and Justice (ATJ), has berated the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) over what it termed unnecessary and fraudulent involvement in politics.

The Coalition, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Anthony Ujah, accused top officials of the Scheme of conniving with highly-placed politicians to destroy the reputation of others in the name of forged NYSC certificates.

Recall that the NYSC DG, Brig Gen Yusha’u Ahmed, alleged that it never issued a discharge certificate to Enugu State Governor-elect, Dr. Peter Mbah.

Mbah consequently obtained a court order barring the NYSC from further disclaiming his certificate.

The governor-elect sued the NYSC for N20 billion at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for alleged conspiracy, deceit, and misrepresentation of facts.

However, despite the court order, the NYSC DG engaged the media to again disclaim the certificate, denying knowledge of the lawsuit and consequent court order, acting in clear contempt of the court.

Ujah said the NYSC leadership has derailed from its mandate and is now a tool in the hands of desperate politicians to frustrate perceived rivals.

The Coalition wondered why Mbah will forge a certificate he didn’t have to pay for and did not need to write any exam to earn.

“After our investigation, we discovered that the Governor-Elect of Enugu, Barrister Peter Mbah was dully mobilized by the NYSC, issued a call-up letter, assigned to a place of primary assignment, and carried out all duties and responsibilities assigned to him, including participating in the passing out parade and was issued a discharge certificate by the NYSC,” Ujah said.

“One now wonders how at the end of all these exercises, the NYSC could make a bold face by telling the world that the Governor-elect didn’t participate in the exercise. This is not only scandalous but ridiculous, to say the least.

“The 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. The NYSC should back its claim by producing any other certificate in the series of Mbah’s certificate that has the same serial number”.

The Coalition, therefore, vowed to embark on a massive protest at the NYSC secretariat to call for the total investigation of the Scheme and her staff by the National Assembly as soon as possible.

Ujah said after this mass action, the incoming administration would be left with no other option but to reform or outrightly abolish the compromised Scheme.