APP and Abuja lawyer file separate law suits against Adeosun asking that she be sacked and prosecuted

FINANCE minister Kemi Adeosun has been dragged to court by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and Abuja lawyer Francis Obalim who are both demanding that she be sacked for forging a national Youth Service Corp (NYSC) discharge certificate.

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

Since the story broke, Ms Adeosun has refused to comment and the presidency has also been mum amid calls for her to be sacked and charged for criminal conduct. As a result of the silence, the APP has filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja, demanding she be sacked.

Listed as defendants in the suit were President Muhammadu Buhari, the attorney-general of the federation and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). In the suit, the APP did not only pray for the removal of the minister but also for an order directing her to refund the salaries she had received since 2015 when she was appointed and also asked that the federal government be compelled to prosecute her.

In addition, the party, through its lawyer Kingdom Okere, asked the court to, among others, declare that Ms Adeosun is not qualified to be appointed a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or into any other public office, having not participated in the compulsory one-year NYSC scheme. Furthermore, the APP also prayed the court to declare that Ms Adeosun is not a fit and proper person to continue to occupy the office she presently occupies having presented a fake NYSC exemption certificate and having breached her oath of office to uphold and defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It, therefore, prayed for a consequential order directing President Buhari who claims that his administration is fighting corruption to immediately sack or suspend Ms Adeosun as the finance minister pending an investigation and her prosecution for forgery and perjury. Also, the party also prayed for an order compelling the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the ICPC, to immediately arrest and investigate the allegation and to immediately prefer a criminal charge against Ms Adeosun for the offence of perjury and forgery.

Meanwhile, Mr Obalim who also filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, equally demanded the sacking of Ms Adeosun. His suit marked applied for an order quashing and setting aside Ms Adeosun’s appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by President Buhari.

Mr Obalim argued that Ms Adeosun circumvented the mandatory conditions in sections 12, 13 and 14 of the NYSC Act, an integral part of the 1999 constitution. He maintained that Ms Adeosun, who was named as the first defendant, was not qualified to be employed by the Federal Government of Nigeria either as a minister or in any other capacity whatsoever, without first presenting a valid discharge certificate issued by the NYSC.

Through his counsel Johnmary Jideobi, Mr Obalim sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the federal government from further according ministerial status to Ms Adeosun until she presents a valid certificate of discharge regularly issued by the NYSC. Ms Adeosun, the attorney-general of the federation, the senate president and the clerk of the senate are the respondents to the suit.