Eddy Megwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the
National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC), has stated that Mrs. Hannatu Musawa, the
Minister of Arts and Culture, is currently in violation of the NYSC Act by
holding the ministerial position while still within her one-year youth service
period.
During a phone conversation with our correspondent, Megwa
verified that the minister had been serving in the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT) for the past eight months.
He elaborated that it contradicted the provisions of the NYSC
Act for any member of the corps to assume a government position prior to
completing the full one-year service.
According to Megwa, Mrs. Musawa was initially enlisted for
the youth service in 2001 and underwent her orientation program in Ebonyi
State. However, she subsequently relocated to Kaduna State to continue the
program. It was during her time in Kaduna that she abandoned the service and
did not fulfill its requirements.
Megwa emphasized that the NYSC program would thoroughly investigate
this matter and take appropriate actions as needed.
Legal experts weigh in on the matter:
In response, Abeny Mohammed (SAN) remarked that this action
contravened the NYSC Act, which explicitly stated that individuals must not be
legally employed or offer themselves for employment without either completing
the service and presenting the certificate or obtaining an exemption and
holding the certificate of exemption.
Mohammed commented, “The current situation highlights
that this individual is still undergoing the duties of a corps member while
also being appointed as a minister. This underscores the inconsistencies in our
policies and the disregard for our legal framework.”
Likewise, Femi Falana (SAN) expressed that it constituted a
violation of the law for anyone still engaged in the NYSC to accept a
ministerial appointment.
In a statement titled “A Youth Corps Member is not
Competent to be a Minister in Nigeria,” Falana asserted that in accordance
with Section 2 of the NYSC Act, any citizen who has graduated from a tertiary
institution in Nigeria or abroad and is not yet 30 years old must partake in
the mandatory one-year national youth service. Individuals over the age of 30
are ineligible for the service.
