Certificate Forgery: No Case Against Ex-Finance Minister Adeosun, Court Rules

A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, ruled in favor of former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, over a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate controversy, which resulted in her resignation in 2018.

ABN TV gathered that Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in his ruling on the originating summons with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/303/21 brought by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, on her behalf, held that the NYSC certificate based on the constitution is not a mandatory requirement for holding a political office in the country.

This news platform learnt that while Adeosun was the plaintiff in the suit, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was the sole defendant.

It can be recalled that Adeosun resigned over allegations that she used a forged certificate to avoid the country’s mandatory one-year youth service scheme. She had lived in the UK until she was 34 and said that she had been told she was exempt because she was over 30.

An internal investigation revealed that the certificate was ‘fake’. She didn’t contest and instead opted to resign immediately.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Adeosun as finance minister in 2015. Her major focus was to improve tax collection and crack down on mismanagement by government agencies.