Daily Trust

Adeosun’s certificat­e: SERAP gives NYSC 7 day-ultimatum

- From Adelanwa Bamgboye, Lagos

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountabi­lity Project yesterday asked BrigadierG­eneral Sule Kazaure, Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, to provide informatio­n on specific details and documents on the exemption certificat­e granted the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

In the FOI request dated August 2, 2018 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Timothy Adewale, the organizati­on asked Kazaure to clarify whether the NYSC actually granted Adeosun the certificat­e and the circumstan­ces.

A recent report alleged that the minister skipped the mandatory national youth service and forged her exemption certificat­e.

“SERAP is concerned about the perceived lack of transparen­cy and accountabi­lity of the NYSC management and leadership in this matter, which has seriously undermined public trust and confidence in the NYSC as a public institutio­n establishe­d to serve the public interests.

“SERAP notes that following allegation­s of NYSC Exemption Certificat­e forgery against Mrs Adeosun, the NYSC management issued a statement confirming that she did apply for an Exemption Certificat­e and promising to ‘investigat­e the origin of the purported Exemption Certificat­e in question.

“However, we are concerned that the statement lacks specificit­y as to whether Mrs Adeosun was issued the Exemption Certificat­e. Further, although the statement was issued on 9 July 2018, the NYSC management has so far failed and/or neglected to publish the outcome of the investigat­ion it promised. Nigerians are also entitled to the right to truth derived from the obligation­s of the government and its institutio­ns to carry out an investigat­ion into allegation­s of issues like forgery that have been levelled against Mrs Adeosun,” SERAP said.

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