Court tells NYSC, don’t declare Enugu gov-elect certificate fake

The National Youth Service Corps and its Director of Corps Certification, Ibrahim Muhammed, are not permitted to make any further denials that the NYSC certificate dated January 6, 2003, issued to the candidate for governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, was faked, according to an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Mbah is the plaintiff in the case, and the defendants are the NYSC and Muhammad.

Following an ex parte motion filed on behalf of the applicant on May 4 by Emeka Ozoani (SAN), Justice Ekwo issued the ruling.

Recall that opposition political parties charged Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party with submitting a forged NYSC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission during the lead-up to the March 18, 2023 governorship election.

The NYSC denied providing Mbah with the certificate in a letter of response dated February 1, 2023 and signed by Muhammad.

The plaintiff subsequently petitioned the court for an order of temporary injunction prohibiting the NYSC and its directors from issuing and disseminating statements regarding the certificate saga.

Justice Ekwo granted the first request on the motion paper for “An order of interim injunction restraining the defendants and respondents, whether by themselves, their directors, from issuing, publishing disclaimer to the effect that the plaintiff Mbah Peter’s NYSC certificate of national service, certificate No. A.808297, issued in accordance with Section 11 of the National Youth Service Corps Decree No. 51 of 1993, was not issued by the Nationa

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The plaintiff claimed in the motion paper that he returned to Nigeria after earning his law degree from the University of East London in 2000 and that, in order to practice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, he applied for and was accepted into the Bar part 1 program of the Nigerian Law School.

He claimed that after passing the Bar Part 1 Exam, he had to wait for the Bar Part 2 Programme and was told not to waste time waiting around by not starting the required one-year NYSC program.

The plaintiff claimed that after being selected for the NYSC, he was sent to the Nigerian Ports Authority Apapa Quays for his primary assignment but was turned down by the NPA, which led him to seek representation from the law office of Ude & Associates.

“The plaintiff applied for and was granted permission to defer the NYSC during his service year and after completing six months of it in order to finish the Bar final exam.

The plaintiff was subsequently re-mobilized to finish the NYSC program, which he did.

Mbah asserted that he received the National Service Certificate with the number A.808297 dated January 6, 2003 after completing his NYSC service.

The trial judge therefore mandated that the applicant serve court papers on the defendants within two days of receiving the order.