A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, cleared the former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate forgery, which resulted in her resignation in 2018.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in his ruling on the originating summon with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/303/21 brought by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, on her behalf, held that the NYSC certificate based on the constitution is not a mandatory requirement for holding a political office in the country.

”I am of the view that denying the plaintiff of the relieves sought is not going to be doing justice to the matter,” he said.

The judge, therefore, granted all the four relieves sought for determination by the former minister.

Taiwo noted that the AGF, in his counter affidavit, did not challenge the avirement of the plaintiff, wherein the defendant stated that the Federal Government did not withdraw the ministerial appointment of the plaintiff or ask her to resign, but that Adeosun resigned on her on accord.

The former minister of finance, had resigned from the office on September 14th 2018 after in the wake the certificate forgery scandal.

In the resignation letter she submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, Adeosun thanked him for the honor to serve under him and further explained how she attained the NYSC certificate without having the service experience.

She stated that she had always lived in London up until the age of 34 when she relocated back to Nigeria and mentioned how there had been a prior debate on whether or not she needed to have her NYSC because of her age. After engaging NYSC, she claimed she was issued a certificate without having the experience required and said she had no way of personally verifying if the certificate she was issued was genuine or forged.

The Court's judgement cleared her of liability of any penalty for accepting a political appointment without having participated in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme. Further determination of culpability in parading a forged certificate may be the subject of a fresh litigation, if any.