Certificate Fraud: NYSC Charged With Factual Misrepresentation

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has come under fire for what a group of 150 civil society organisations calling themselves ‘Advocates of Truth and Justice’ (ATJ), called the NYSC “unnecessary and fraudulent involvement in politics.”

The alliance has vowed to launch large-scale demonstrations against dishonest authorities. In a statement released by ATJ and signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Anthony Ujah, top Scheme officials were charged with conspiring with powerful politicians to tarnish the reputations of others by using fake NYSC credentials.

According to him “Remember how the Director General of the NYSC, Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, said that Dr. Peter Mbah, the candidate for Governorship in Enugu State, never received a discharge certificate? As a result, Mbah was granted a court injunction preventing the NYSC from further revocation of his certificate”.

At the Federal High Court in Abuja, the governor-elect sued the NYSC for N20 billion for claimed conspiracy, fraud, and factual misrepresentation. The organisation argued that the NYSC DG engaged the media to deny the certificate, notwithstanding the court order, denying knowledge of the litigation and the court order and acting in blatant disobedience of the court.

According to Ujah, the NYSC leadership has strayed from its mission and is now being used as a tool by desperate politicians to sabotage alleged competitors. The Coalition questioned Mbah’s decision to fake a credential that he didn’t have to pay for and didn’t need him to take any tests to obtain.

“After our investigation, we found that the Governor-Elect of Enugu, Barrister Peter Mbah, was duly mobilised 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,” the statement reads.

“One now wonders how the NYSC was able to put on a brave face by informing the public that the Governor-elect didn’t partake in the exercise at the conclusion of all these drills. To put it mildly, this is not just outrageous but also absurd.

The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company PLC prints the NYSC discharge certificates. They offer security measures including batch-specific serial numbers and watermarks. Any other certificate in the same series as Mbah’s certificate with the same serial number should be produced to support the NYSC’s claim.

Therefore, the Coalition planned to launch a significant demonstration at the NYSC secretariat to demand that the National Assembly immediately conduct an extensive inquiry into the Scheme and her employees.

After this massive protest, according to Ujah, the future administration will have no choice than to amend or completely abolish the flawed Scheme.