Presidency officials say Buhari is yet to be officially informed about Adeosun's forgery allegations

PRESIDENCY officials have revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to be formally informed about the allegation that finance minister Kemi Adeosun forged a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

Over the weekend, national daily Premium Times, revealed that Ms Adeosun, 51, an economist and chartered accountant, forged a discharge certificate to enable her serve in government. According to the report, Ms Adeosun’s certificate is dated September 9, 2009 and was purportedly signed by Yusuf Bomoi, a former NYSC director-general who passed away in September last year but he had stepped down from the NYSC in January 2009 and could as such not have signed it.

Also, Premium Times explained that according to several current and former NYSC officials, the agency would never issue an exemption certificate to anyone who graduated before age 30 and did not fall into the categories of persons exempted. Apart from those over 30, other people exempt from NYSC service include those who are holders of national honours, persons who served in the armed forces or the police for up to nine months and staff of intelligence agencies.

Ms Adeosun has been Nigeria's finance minister since 2015 when President Buhari's All Progressives Congress came to power and before that she was the Ogun State finance commissioner. A British-born diasporan, Ms Adeosun  earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of East London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Financial Management from the University of London.

Already, Nigeria's main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party has called on President Buhari to sack Ms Adeosun over the allegations. Despite the weight of the claims, the minister has not reacted to enquiries by journalists and President Buhari's spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, said he was yet to be briefed on the forgery allegations.

Mallam Shehu said: “Well, I have not been briefed on this. I haven’t heard of it being spoken and I am completely unaware of anything.”

In addition to being a requirement for government and private sector jobs in Nigeria, the enabling law that established the NYSC, prescribes punishment for anyone who absconds from the scheme or forges its certificates. Eligible Nigerians who skipped the service are liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and/or N2,000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC law.

Section 13 (3) of the law also prescribes a three-year jail term or option of N5,000 fine for anyone who contravenes the provision of the law as Ms Adeosun is alleged to have done. Subsection 4 of the same section also criminalises giving false information or illegally obtaining the agency’s certificate, punishing it with up to a three-year jail term.