NYSC DG Lied On The Forgery Of Peter Mbah's Certificate

Dr. Peter Mbah

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Director-General, Brig. Gen. Yusha'u Dogara Ahmed, said that he informed Dr. Peter Mbah, the candidate for governor of Enugu State, of his dismissal. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Enugu State, refuted this assertion.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Director-General, Brig. Gen. Yusha'u Dogara Ahmed, said that he informed the candidate for governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, that his release certificate was not provided by the NYSC. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Enugu State, has refuted this assertion.

Recalls that on Friday morning's Arise TV program, Ahmed made this disclosure.

The PDP countered that his assertion was consistent with the agency's conspiracy, misrepresentation of the facts, and dishonesty, all of which led to Mbah's N20 billion lawsuit against the organization.

The DG claimed he would not want to comment on the topic because it was in court, yet he went on to deny knowledge of the lawsuit and ensuing court order and behave in blatant disobedience of the court, as was described as ironic in the same passage.

This was said at a press conference on Friday by Barr. Nana Ogbodo, the director of communications and spokeswoman for the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council for the 2023 general elections, in response to the NYSC DG's earlier-in-the-day interview on Arise News.

"We should have viewed with surprise the false claim by the NYSC DG, Brigadier-General Yushau'u Dogara Ahmed, on national television this morning. But he has not said anything new, as his statements were in sync with the continued conspiracy, deceit, and wilful misrepresentation of facts by the agency and its Director of Corps Certification, Mr. Ibrahim Muhammad, which necessitated Mbah's N20 Billion lawsuit against the agency and Mr. Muhammad in the first.

"The DG lied when he claimed that he told Mbah during a meeting in his office that the NYSC did not issue his certificate. The truth is that he told Mbah that the Director in question neither briefed nor cleared with him before issuing the letter dated February 1, 2023 disclaiming Dr. Mbah's discharge certificate.

"He equally expressed surprise when Mbah showed him the letter by the NYSC national headquarters dated 7th May 2003 (reference number NYSC/DHQ/CM/27/20) to the State Director, Lagos, NYSC, re-mobilising him for the remaining part of his service year after a break, by the express and written permission of the agency, to complete Bar Part II (Bar Final).

"Excerpt from the re-mobilisation letter states: 'I am directed to refer to your letter of 24th April, Reference No. LA/01/1532/T on the above subject matter and to request you to re- instate the corps member to continue his service year from where he stopped, with effect from May 2003.'

"It is noteworthy that the Directors and staff present at the meeting did not deny that the NYSC authored the letter re-mobilising Mbah, while his place of primary assignment, Udeh & Associates, Lagos, has not denied that it authored the letter reabsorbing him to complete the remaining months of his service year as well as the final clearance letter to enable him receive his NYSC discharge certificate at the end of his service.

"The DG actually told Dr. Mbah that he was barely three months in office at the time, but would resolve the matter with dispatch. But it is striking that the NYSC is yet to formally respond to Mbah's petition since February 2, 2023. Instead, the NYSC, through its Director of Corps Certification, has continued to issue letters of disclaimer to various political interests in Enugu State, in clear contempt of a subsisting court judgment upholding the authenticity of his certificate and in relentless disparagement of his reputation," the PDP stated.

The group questioned Mbah's decision to forge a certificate after going through such arduous labor to serve his country, claiming it was illogical to even consider it.

It emphasized that the agency did not have the final say regarding whether Mbah's NYSC certificate was authentic or not, and urged it to take the N20 billion lawsuit to court, where the agency would also have the right to call other relevant agencies involved in the production and authentication of NYSC certificates as witnesses.

"NYSC discharge certificates are printed by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company PLC. They have security features such as watermarks and serial numbers denoting the batches. We therefore challenge the NYSC to produce any other certificate in the series of Mbah's certificate that has the same serial number as his.

"Meanwhile it is equally important to point out that the statement by the NYSC DG, Brigadier-General Ahmed is a clear contempt of a valid interim court order sequel to suit number FHC/ABJ/09/611/2023 restraining the agency and its Director of Corps Certification whether by themselves, their directors, officers, servants, legal representatives, counsel or any other person or persons howsoever described and connected, from issuing, publishing or continue to issue, publish disclaimer to the effect that Mbah's NYSC discharge certificate was not issued by the agency pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit already filed.

"This should not be the way of a body established by law, NYSC cannot be above the law of the land", the party concluded.