Nigeria’s former finance minister Kemi Adeosun, who was caught in a certificate forgery scandal, got what appears to be a reprieve from a court on Wednesday.
The Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Mrs Adeosun did not breach any law by being appointed to the ministerial position in 2015 without participating in the NYSC scheme.
Although Mrs Adesosun forged her NYSC certificate to be appointed minister, the issue of forgery was not brought before the court as the federal government has refused to prosecute her for that.
Taiwo Taiwo, the judge, held that Mrs Adeosun, as of the time she graduated from a United Kingdom university at 22 in 1989, 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 to be appointed as a Nigerian minister or contest the House of Representatives election.
The judge did not review the forgery of an NYSC exemption certificate which Mrs Adeosun procured for her screening ahead of her ministerial appointment in 2015.
