The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has been asked by critics to prove allegations published by Premium Times on Saturday that she skipped the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and subsequently obtained a forged exemption certificate in 2009 are false.
According to the premium Times story, the minister reportedly graduated from the Polytechnic of East London, in the United Kingdom, in 1989, at 22. The scheme is compulsory for all Nigerian graduates, under the age of 30, while those above the age limit are required to obtain an exemption certificate.
Several attempts to speak with the minister by journalists have been unsuccessful. Repeated calls and texts to her mobile lines have gone answered.
The NYSC certificate, in addition to being a requirement for government and private sector jobs in Nigeria,there’s an enabling law that prescribes punishment for anyone who absconds from the scheme or forges its certificates.
Eligible Nigerians who skip 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 three-year jail term or option of N5,000 fine for anyone who contravenes provision of the law.
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