Unic Press UK: The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-profit making human rights organization in Nigeria, have urged the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun to address the serious allegations of certificate forgery against her by a notable online news outfit based in Nigeria.
In a statement apropos of the allegations that the Minister of Finance of the Republic, Kemi Adeosun, had forged exemption certificate of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale said:
“Clarifying the allegations of certificate forgery would show a commitment to doing the right thing, and a natural disposition toward openness. The continuing failure and/or refusal to speak to Nigerians on these allegations amounts to a betrayal of public trust. If she can show the courage to clear the air on the allegations, Mrs Adeosun can be a strong promoter of the values of transparency and accountability, something which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has regularly expressed commitment to embrace and achieve. When those in position of public trust refuse to speak up on allegations bordering on certificate forgery, it invariably creates a psychological climate, a moral culture in which citizens are more likely to embrace illegal actions and choose to undertake them.”
In a report “EXCLUSIVE: Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun Skips NYSC, Forges Certificate”, which was published on July 7, the Premium Times, Nigeria, said:
“Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, did not participate in the mandatory one-year national youth service scheme. Instead, she forged an exemption certificate many years after graduation. . . The year-long service, organised by the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), is compulsory for all Nigerians who graduate from universities or equivalent institutions at less than 30 years of age. Mrs Adeosun graduated from the Polytechnic of East London in 1989, at the age of 22. According to her curriculum vitae, Mrs Adeosun was born in March 1967. The institution changed name to University of East London in 1992. Mrs Adeosun has her certificate issued in the new name. Having graduated at 22, it is obligatory for Mrs Adeosun to participate in the one-year national service, for her to qualify for any job in Nigeria. When she eventually returned to Nigeria in 2002, Mrs Adeosun still did not deem it necessary to participate in the NYSC scheme. We investigated Mrs Adeosun’s so-called NYSC certificate for months, determining eventually that it is fake. “This one is an Oluwole certificate,” a top official of the corps said after we showed him a copy of the document. “We did not issue it and we could not have issued it.” Oluwole is a location in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, where fraudsters possess an amazing dexterity in the art of forging all kinds of documents. Several current and former officials of the scheme told this paper that the NYSC would never issue an exemption certificate to anyone who graduated before age 30 and did not fall into the categories of persons exempted by the corps’ enabling Act.”
