A Federal High Court in Abuja has cleared the embattled former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, of the alleged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate forgery, which resulted in her eventual resignation from office in 2018.
It would be recalled that her resignation over the NYSC certificate controversy followed series of relentless news coverage on the matter for some months and some court cases against her and the NYSC.
Adeosun had in her resignation letter in 2018, said “I have, today, become privy to the findings of the investigation into the allegation made in an online medium that the Certificate of Exemption from National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) that I had presented was not genuine. This has come as a shock to me and I believe that in line with this administration’s focus on integrity, I must do the honourable thing and resign”.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that while delivering his ruling on the originating summon with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/303/21 brought by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, on her behalf, Justice Taiwo Taiwo held that the NYSC certificate based on the constitution is not a mandatory requirement for holding a political office in the country.
According to the report, while Adeosun was the plaintiff in the suit, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was the sole defendant.
In his judgment, Justice Taiwo, emphasized that the NYSC certificate, based on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is not a mandatory requirement for holding a political office in the country.
The judge held that Adeosun, from available facts, was a United Kingdom (UK) citizen having been born in the UK in 1967 and remained there till 2003 when she came back to Nigeria.
Taiwo noted that Adeosun became a Nigerian citizen by virtue of the 1999 Constitution which came into force on May 29 of the year; therefore, the NYSC Act would have no effect on her.
In his words, the former minister would have committed a grave crime against Nigeria if she had participated in the NYSC, having attained the exemption age of 36 years.
He also stated that the AGF, in his counter-affidavit, did not challenge the averment of the plaintiff.
Taiwo continued that the defendant, in one of the paragraphs of the application, stated that the Federal Government neither withdrew the ministerial appointment of the plaintiff nor asked her to resign, but that Adeosun resigned on her own accord.
The held that “I am of the view that denying the plaintiff of the relieves sought is not going to be doing justice to the matter”.
Taiwo, therefore, granted all the four relieves sought for determination by the former minister.
