The spotlight has returned on the controversy revolving around Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Creative Economy, concerning her National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) certificate. The minister claimed to have done nothing wrong to have served as a corps member while holding a ministerial role in a Sunday interview.

Musawa was under scrutiny by many Nigerians when the NYSC revealed that she was partaking in the national youth service programme in August 2023.

Some Nigerians raised eyebrows at this as they believed she went against the law by holding a ministerial position before undergoing the mandatory one-year service scheme for tertiary school graduates. She was also serving as a corps member at the time she became a minister.

There were questions about why she was serving as a corps member despite being over 30 years of age, the legality of holding a ministerial position without undergoing the NYSC programme and having a certificate for proof, amongst others.

In an interview with Seun Okinbaloye, a broadcast journalist with Channels Television, on Sunday night, the minister said everything she did was in accordance with the law.

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Q: How did you find your way to being a minister without an NYSC certificate?– Minister of Creative Economy. Hannatu Musa Musawa had this to say#SundayPolitics pic.twitter.com/5ucKR16abR— Channels Television (@channelstv) October 6, 2024

“I have not come out to set the record straight as to what really happened. The social media has just run rife with different accounts. The matter has been adjudicated and one day, I will come out with my own. What I can tell you is that I have probably done more NYSC than yourself,” Musawa said.

“I have done at least two years of NYSC in my life but like I said, I will come out to give a proper account of what happened. I think what I owe Nigerians is to say that I did not do anything wrong. I did NYSC, finished and got my certificate.

“I can assure you that nothing was done to break the law or regulations. Everything I did was in accordance with the law and that is the situation. Like I said, one day I will come out with my own account of what happened to set the record straight.”

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WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

There has been an extensive debate on whether it is constitutional for Nigerians who did not undergo the mandatory one-year NYSC scheme to hold ministerial positions, but the position of the constitution is different.

Despite being a mandatory scheme for Nigerians who graduated before age 30, the Nigerian Constitution does not mention possessing an NYSC certificate as a ministerial candidate’s requirement.

According to Section 147(5) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the requirements for ministerial appointments are the same as those for election as members of the House of Representatives.

Also, if the minister underwent the NYSC programme at the same time she was a sitting minister as she claimed, her age at the time of her service was not enough grounds for disqualification.

The NYSC allows Nigerians who graduated before the age of 30 to register for the scheme even if they decide to serve years after they clocked 30.

In 2018, Kemi Adeosun, a former minister of finance under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, came under fire for an NYSC-related scandal.

The pressure from the scandal led Adeosun into resigning after she was accused of forging her NYSC certificate. Three years later, a federal high court in Abuja ruled that she did not require an NYSC certificate to hold her ministerial position.

Asides the provisions of the constitution, the judicial precedent in Adeosun’s case absolves Musawa and any other ministerial candidate in a similar position of blame.
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