The National
Youth Service Corps has said it is investigating a “purported exemption
certificate” which was allegedly obtained by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi
Adeosun.
The NYSC
Director of Press and Public Relations, Mrs Adeyemi Adenike, stated this on
Monday, while reacting to media reports that the finance minister allegedly
forged an Exemption Certificate which was also cleared by the National Assembly
during her screening.
The NYSC’s
spokesperson, Adeyemi, said in a statement that the scheme could confirm that
the finance minster indeed applied for an Exemption Certificate.
Adeyemi
said, “Our attention has been drawn to the issue of the alleged forgery of an
NYSC Exemption Certificate by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi
Adeosun. Checking our records, Mrs Adeosun did apply for an Exemption
Certificate. We shall investigate the origin of the purported Exemption
Certificate in question. Thank you.”
However, a
civil society organisation, the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership,
has called on the finance minister, Adeosun, to respond to the allegations of
certificate forgery levelled against her or resign from office.
CACOL, in a
release on Monday by its Chairman, Mr Debo Adeniran, said the centre called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to “immediately wade into this matter by suspending
Mrs Kemi Adeosun from her position as the Minister of Finance in order to allow
full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the forgery allegation.”
Adeniran
said, “What should not be encouraged, under any guise, is a reign of impunity
as the country steers towards consolidation of its democratic culture. The
minister was reported to have approved fictitious budget heads on several
occasions. If this is found to be true, it is not only criminal, but a clear
violation of fiscal discipline and accountability.
“The nation
is presently facing a lot of challenges which require the present
administration’s undivided attention, ranging from Fulani herdsmen-farmers’
crisis to banditry, social dislocation and economic crunch and cannot therefore
afford to be bogged down by any distractions arising from the recklessness of
any public official.
“Our current
situation as a nation demands that public officers serving the current
government should be seen to be above board in implementing the
administration’s Change Agenda. Public officers are also compulsorily required
to demonstrate transparency, responsibility and accountability in steering the
ship of state.
“It is in
this regard that we call on the President to immediately wade into this matter
by suspending Mrs Kemi Adeosun from her position as the Minister of Finance to
allow full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the forgery
allegation and misappropriation of funds under her Ministry. This is necessary
to reinforce public confidence and send a clear signal that no criminal conduct
would be tolerated by this government.”
Attempts to
get comments from the minister were not successful as calls and a text message
sent to his Media Adviser, Oluyinka Akintunde, were not responded to as of
5.30pm when this report was being filed on Monday.
Adeosun had
come under fire with several Nigerians, particularly on the social media,
demanding investigations from the Federal Government into the allegations and
calling for her resignation for presenting an alleged forged excemption
certificate.
The reports
claimed that the finance minister, who did not participate in the one-year
national youth service, allegedly forged an Exemption Certificate several years
after her graduation.
The
certificate, which is dated September 2009, was reportedly signed by an NYSC
Director-General, Yusuf Bomoi, who already left the scheme in January 2009.
In November
2015, Adeosun was appointed as Minister of Finance under President Muhammadu
Buhari after she had been cleared by the Department of State Services and by
the Senate.
Both the
security and legislature, which ought to have looked closely at ministerial
appointees’ certificates, records and profiles, allegedly failed to detect any
fault in the NYSC Exemption Certificate presented by Adeosun.
As public
outcry continues to greet the allegedly forged NYSC certificate by the finance
minister, the NYSC said on Monday that it had begun its own investigations to
unravel the source of the purported Exemption Certificate, said to have been
obtained by the finance minister.
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