Certificate Saga: Civil Society Group Carpets NYSC over Alleged Campaign of Calumny against Mbah

•Demands FG’s probe

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), has carpeted the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Yushau Dogara, for leading an alleged campaign of calumny against the Governor-elect of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, in the certificate saga that has ensued since the beginning of the year.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, in Abuja, the National Coordinator of HURIWA,  Emmanuel Onwubiko, said it was surprising that the NYSC Director General  would lead a black propaganda against the Peoples Democratic Party, winner of the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State.

The group said the NYSC DG was suspect to have made sudden U-turn claiming that Mbah was not issued an original certificate by the Service.

HURIWA alleged that the NYSC DG might be working for opposition parties who were dissatisfied that Mbah won the poll against the Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress in the last election.

The group therefore demanded that the federal government, especially the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, constitute a panel and probe the shenanigan of the NYSC DG against Mbah and other victims of NYSC certificate blackmail.

The group wondered that anytime enemies want to carry out a smear campaign against a winning politician of government official, NYSC is the go-to place to achieve their crafty devices.

Citing the case of former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun as still fresh in the minds of Nigerians, the national coordinator, said, “At 50, NYSC has sadly become an instrument for mischievous politicians to weaponise their political detractors.

“We recall back in February when we called on the new NYSC DG to dismantle a syndicate issuing fake NYSC certificates to members of the public,” stressing that the members of the “syndicate are also members of the scheme who want to monetise controversies and hatchet jobs of the enemies.”

“Recall also that the NYSC defended an Enugu corps member who was caught allegedly manipulating election results in a polling unit in the state,” he stressed.

He explained that the NYSC had said the error committed by corps member in Abakpa Ward in Enugu East Local Government Area, was not deliberate.

According to him, “The corps member was reported to have favoured one of the presidential candidates in the elections. We wonder why the corper has not been arrested and prosecuted.

“It must also be put on record that it is fat lie that Brig Gen Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed told Dr. Peter Mbah, that his discharge certificate was not issued by the NYSC.

“NYSC’s conspiracy, deceit, and willful misrepresentation of facts necessitated Mbah’s N20 billion lawsuit against it.

It is also an irony that 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.

“For context, Mbah was given a 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).

“We wonder why Mbah would go through all the rigorous process to serve his fatherland only to end up forging a 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.

“The suspicious role of the management of NYSC in the instigated saga about the so-called unknown NYSC certificate presented by Governor elect of Enugu State is therefore suspect.

“The maximum political demarketing of the Governor-elect is satanic and condemnable. The whole thing should be subjected to forensic finger printing analysis,” he explained.

According to Onwubiko, “Information at our disposal showed that there was something sinister about all these circumstances surrounding the blackmailing of governor elect of Enugu by NYSC.

“We condemn the media trial against Peter Mbah and demand a Presidential probe panel made up of independent persons including for justices of the Supreme Court who must have retired 12 years ago as members to probe the NYSC certificate issuance that is now marred in self-inflicted quagmire.”