The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig Gen YD Ahmed, has said that the discharge certificate being paraded by Enugu State Governor-elect, Barr Peter Mbah, was not issued by the body.
Brig Gen Ahmed who was a guest on Arise Television’s breakfast programme, Friday, the argument on whether Mbah has a valid NYSC certificate or not, does not arise because he has told the PDP candidate in the 2023 governorship elections that what he presented as a certificate was fake.
“He 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. Everyone knows how we issue our certificate in NYSC we don’t give it in hotel rooms or houses, the DG said.
Peter Mbah has reportedly filed a case against the NYSC, allegedly claiming N20 billion in damages for the injuries he claims have been caused him by the controversies surrounding his discharge certificate.
The controversy surrounding Mbah’s discharge certificate blew open in February 2023, when the NYSC, in response to an inquiry by a non-governmental organisation, released a letter stating that the certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not issued by them.
In April 2023, another letter repudiating the certificate was again issued following another inquiry by an Aba-based law firm, Silver & Co. Associates.
On the purported suit by Mbah, the NYSC Director General said he was not aware of any suit, and will not respond based on hearsay.
“Concerning the suit, the NYSC has not been sued. I am yet to see anything from any court, all you are saying, I have been hearing from outside. I have not received any court order, but I must tell you, we do not tolerate certificate racketeering. If it is from any of our staff, that is not our problem. But that certificate is not from us,” he asserted.
Peter Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate has snowballed into a national issue, drawing attention to the possibility of many public office holders getting into office with fake qualifications.
Recently, Mbah, through his lawyer, Emeka Ozoani, SAN, had obtained an order from a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, restraining the NYSC and any of its personnel from commenting on the controversial certificate.
It is not clear if the counsel to Mbah will not bring contempt proceedings against the NYSC Director General following the interview, even as Nigerians have roundly condemned the court order as frivolous and against the tenets of justice.
