PDP kicks as NYSC DG insists Enugu governor-elect possess ‘fake certificate’

The Director-General (DG) of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Yisha’u Ahmed, has accused the Governor-elect of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, of possessing a “fake NYSC certificate.”

There has been controversy over the NYSC certificate belonging to the governor-elect with claims that the certificate was fake.

Mr Mbah, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who won the 18 March governorship election in the state, has repeatedly denied possessing a fake NYSC certificate.

He has maintained that he completed his national service in Lagos State and was issued with a discharge certificate by the NYSC authorities.

The certificate is usually issued to Nigerian graduates within 30 years of age who have successfully completed a mandatory one-year national service organised by the NYSC.

In February, the NYSC issued a letter signed by its Director of Certifications, Ibrahim Muhammad, stating that the NYSC certificate belonging to Mr Mbah did not emanate from them.

Consequently, Mr Mbah, obtained a court order barring the NYSC from further disclaiming his certificate.

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

Mr Mbah is billed to be sworn-in as governor of Enugu State on 29 May.

NYSC maintains position

Speaking when he appeared as a guest on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Friday, Mr Ahmed, the NYSC DG maintained that the scheme did not issue the certificate to the governor elect.

“He (Mr Mbah) came to me and I called my director to confirm the certificate and we discovered that the certificate was fake and I told him…I wonder how elites who have gone to school will resort to black market certificates,” he said.

Mr Ahmed also spoke on the court action against the NYSC.

“The governor-elect is a lawyer. I am not a lawyer, but I know as the DG of NYSC, I’m fully aware of this case.

“He came to me, I was frank with him, and I told him this certificate was not from us, However, he chose to go to court and sue. But as far as I’m concerned NYSC has not been sued. I’m just hearing about it. I have not seen a court order,” The DG stated.

‘You lied,’ PDP kicks

Reacting, the PDP in the state faulted the position of the NYSC DG and accused him of lying against the governor-elect.

In a press conference on Friday, the spokesperson of the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council, Nana Ogbodo, said the NYSC DG’s comments were in sync with the continued “conspiracy, deceit, and willful misrepresentation of facts by the agency” which necessitated Mr Mbah’s lawsuit against the scheme.

“The DG lied when he claimed that he told Mbah during a meeting in his office that the NYSC did not issue his certificate. The truth is that he told Mbah that the director in question neither briefed nor cleared with him before issuing the letter dated February 1, 2023 disclaiming Dr. Mbah’s discharge certificate,” Mr Ogbodo said.

The PDP spokesperson said the DG was surprised when Mr Mbah showed him the letter by the NYSC national headquarters dated 7th May 2003 which indicated the governor-elect was re-mobilised for the remaining part of his service year after proceeding to complete his law school programme at the time.

He claimed that the comments by the NYSC DG was a contempt of court order which restrained the agency and its officials from disclaiming Mr Mbah’s certificate.

“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.

“We therefore challenge the NYSC to produce any other certificate in the series of Mbah’s certificate that has the same serial number as his,” Mr Ogbodo stated.