NYSC Accuses Tinubu’s Minister Of Illegality

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Mrs Hannatu Musawa, has been accused of breaching the NYSC Act.

Musawa was among the 45 ministers recently sworn in by the President, Bola Tinubu.

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the Minister is currently doing her one-year youth service, a development that does not allow her to pick up any government appointment.

The Director, Press and Public Relations of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Eddy Megwa, while speaking with a reporter over the phone, confirmed that the minister had been serving for the past eight months in the FCT.

Megwa clarified that it was against the NYSC Act for any corps member to pick up any government appointment until the one-year service was over.

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Megwa who noted that Musawa was originally mobilised in 2001 for the youth service to Ebonyi State where she had her orientation programme, added that she (Musawa) later relocated to Kaduna State to continue the programme.

Megwa stated that the scheme would look into the issue and take action where necessary.

Reacting to the development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Abeny Mohammed said the action was a breach of the NYSC Act which stated that nobody would be legally employed or offer themselves for employment without doing the service and presenting the certificate or would have been exempted and had the certificate of exemption.

Mohammed said, “The situation we have at hand is that this person is still serving as a corper and she has been appointed a minister. It shows the inconsistency in our policies and disregard for our laws.”

Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) said it was a violation of the law for anybody to still be serving in the NYSC and accept a ministerial appointment.

In a statement titled: “A Youth Corps Member is not Competent to be a Minister in Nigeria”, Falana said by virtue of Section 2 of the NYSC Act every citizen who graduated from any tertiary institution in and outside Nigeria and was not 30 years old shall be mobilised for the one-year compulsory national youth service, while any person above 30 was not eligible to participate in the service.”