People have taken to the media complaining that Hannatu is appointed minister despite undergoing the national service and even went ahead to compare her case with that of Kemi Adeosun.
Their cases are completely different.
Kemi submitted an NYSC certificate and claimed she had completed which is forgery and misinformation and that’s punishable under Nigeria’s laws. Whenever you are filling a public form, there is an undertaking section that says “I attest that all that is written above is true and nothing but the truth. I should be held liable if found otherwise”.
Kemi signed that part and a part of the information was found otherwise because she did not take part in the national service as she claimed.
The Jjdge, Mr Taiwo Taiwo of Federal High Court, ruled that:
“As of the time she (Kemi) graduated from a United Kingdom university at 22 in 1989, (she) was a British citizen who was not qualified to participate in the scheme.”
The judge added that when she returned to Nigeria and became a Nigerian citizen at over 30 years old, she was no longer eligible to participate in the NYSC scheme.
Mr Taiwo ruled that NYSC certificate was not a requirement for Mrs Adeosun (or now Hannatu) to be appointed as a Nigerian minister or contest state or national assembly elections.
The judge said, “For the avoidance of doubt, participation in the NYSC scheme is not a yardstick to be elected into any of the legislative houses be it in the states or at the National Assembly, ditto (likewise) for ministerial appointment, despite the National Youth Service Corps Act being an integral part of the constitution by virtue of section 315 (5) of the Constitution.
“I have looked at the evidence before the court. I therefore grant all the reliefs in favour of the plaintiff. This is the judgement of the court.”
Kemi Adeosun was not sacked by Buhari, she resigned voluntarily. She wouldn’t have had issues if the forged certificate was not submitted. Even though I was of the opinion that we shouldn’t have lost Kemi for that. The woman was superb. She worked wonders and pulled Nigeria out of recession in 2016 and for that we will forever be grateful. To me Kemi is a hero because she is still one of the best finance ministers in our history.
Hannatu Musawa on the other hand did not claim she has completed NYSC. She has not submitted a fake NYSC result. It’s not part of the information she signed in the undertaking section of the forms she filled. She simply submitted other documents without NYSC and that court judgment by Mr Taiwo of Federal High Court in Abuja has made it clear that one needs no NYSC certificate for ministerial appointment.
Hannatu has the capacity and competence for the job. She has demonstrated that several times. None of the criticizers can deny her competence and compatibility for the job. She has achieved wonders over the course of her career and if “na by English them no born you well”.
Corper wee or not, Hannatu didn’t forge certificate and did not lie having one. Whoever has problem with this should reach out to Mr Taiwo Taiwo in Federal High Court Abuja for more clarification.
Hannatu will be minister for Arts, Culture and Entertainment Economy for the next 4 years Insha Allah and will reform our creative industry for the better.
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