The Abuja Federal High Court has ruled that former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun did not require National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate for appointment into political office in the country.
The court also ruled that she was ineligible to participate in the scheme.
Channels Television reports that Adeosun, immediate past minister of finance, resigned her appointment in 2018 after she was accused of forging an NYSC certificate.
In a judgement on Wednesday, Justice Taiwo Taiwo ruled that Adeosun was ineligible to participate in the NYSC scheme when she graduated at 22 because she was then a British citizen.
According to the ruling, the former minister was not supposed to present herself for the service, as at the time of graduation, because under the 1979 constitution which was in force as at that time, she was not a Nigerian citizen, either at her graduation or when she turned 30.
The judge further held that the constitution does not require her to present her first-degree certificate, or any other one, including the NYSC certificate, to be appointed a minister.
Justice Taiwo declared that the ministerial appointment of Adeosun, was not unconstitutional and illegal, even without presenting an NYSC certificate.
The judge therefore granted the four reliefs sought by the plaintiff (Adeosun) including “a declaration that the plaintiff, being a United Kingdom citizen as at 1989 when she graduated from the University of East London, London, the United Kingdom at 22, was ineligible to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme, established by the National Youth Service Corps Act, CAP N8, LFN, 2004.”
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was the sole defendant in the suit.