PDP: NYSC DG Lied on Mbah’s Certificate

Bennett Oghifo

The PDP, Enugu State, has faulted the claim by the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig Gen Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, that he told the Governor-elect of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, that his discharge certificate was not issued by the NYSC.

The Director of Communications and Spokesperson of the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council for the 2023 general elections, Barr. Nana Ogbodo, stated these at a press conference yesterday where he reacted to an interview by the NYSC DG on Arise News earlier in the day.

The party, however, said his claim was in sync with the agency’s conspiracy, deceit, and wilful misrepresentation of facts, which necessitated Mbah’s N20 billion lawsuit against it.

It equally described as an irony a situation where the DG said he would not want to comment on the matter since it was in court, only to go ahead to not only deny knowledge of the lawsuit and consequent court order, but also to act in clear contempt of the court.

“We should have viewed with surprise the false claim by the NYSC DG, Brigadier-General Yushau’u Dogara Ahmed, on national television this morning. But he has not said anything new, as his statements were in sync with the continued conspiracy, deceit, and wilful misrepresentation of facts by the agency and its Director of Corps Certification, Mr. Ibrahim Muhammad, which necessitated Mbah’s N20 Billion lawsuit against the agency and Mr. Muhammad in the first place.

“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.

“He equally expressed surprise when Mbah showed him the letter by the NYSC national headquarters dated 7th May 2003 (reference number NYSC/DHQ/CM/27/20) to the State Director, Lagos, NYSC, re-mobilising him for the remaining part of his service year after a break, by the express and written permission of the agency, to complete Bar Part II (Bar Final).

“Excerpt from the re-mobilisation letter states: ‘I am directed to refer to your letter of 24th April, Reference No. LA/01/1532/T on the above subject matter and to request you to re-instate the corps member to continue his service year from where he stopped, with effect from May 2003.

“It is noteworthy that the Directors and staff present at the meeting did not deny that the NYSC authored the letter re-mobilising Mbah, while his place of primary assignment, Udeh & Associates, Lagos, has not denied that it authored the letter reabsorbing him to complete the remaining months of his service year as well as the final clearance letter to enable him receive his NYSC discharge certificate at the end of his service.

“The DG actually told Dr. Mbah that he was barely three months in office at the time, but would resolve the matter with dispatch. But it is striking that the NYSC is yet to formally respond to Mbah’s petition since February 2, 2023. Instead, the NYSC, through its Director of Corps Certification, has continued to issue letters of disclaimer to various political interests in Enugu State, in clear contempt of a subsisting court judgment upholding the authenticity of his certificate and in relentless disparagement of his reputation”, the PDP stated.

The party wondered why Mbah would go through all the rigorous process to serve his fatherland only to end up forging a certificate, saying it was irrational to contemplate.

It underlined the fact that the final verdict on the genuineness or otherwise of Mbah’s NYSC certificate did not rest with the agency, and urged it to face the N20 Billion lawsuit in a court of law where the agency also has the right to subpoena other relevant agencies in the production and authentication of NYSC certificates to give evidence.

“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.

“Meanwhile it is equally important to point out that the statement by the NYSC DG, Brigadier-General Ahmed is a clear contempt of a valid interim court order sequel to suit number FHC/ABJ/09/611/2023 restraining the agency and its Director of Corps Certification whether by themselves, their directors, officers, servants, legal representatives, counsel or any other person or persons howsoever described and connected, from issuing, publishing or continue to issue, publish disclaimer to the effect that Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate was not issued by the agency pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit already filed.

“This should not be the way of a body established by law, NYSC cannot be above the law of the land”, the party concluded.