The Department of State Services (DSS) has cleared Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah of allegations that he forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the DSS also indicted the NYSC of a cover-up, shoddy investigation, and hasty conclusions.
Presenting their report to the Enugu Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday, the DSS disclosed that the NYSC misplaced Mbah’s original file and, as a result, issued him a temporary one when he returned from Law School to complete his NYSC.
However, the security agency questioned the NYSC’s record-keeping practices, pointing out that certificates from the same series as Mbah’s were issued to corps members in Lagos, contrary to the NYSC’s claim.
In response to the DSS report, the Labour Party (LP) immediately discredited it, saying it was not an official statement from the DSS, as it lacked the agency’s letterhead and stamps.
During cross-examination, the LP’s lead counsel, Chief Adegoke Awomolo (SAN), raised concerns about the report’s authenticity, as it did not bear the customary letterhead and stamps of the DSS.
In response, Mr. Yahaya Isa Mohammed, the DSS Deputy Director of Operations and Strategic Department stated that his signature on the document was sufficient.
Mr. Mohammed was subpoenaed to testify in defense of Mbah’s NYSC certificate.
Awomolo also questioned why Mohammed did not present an authorizing letter or directive from the Director General of the DSS to appear in court. Mohammed clarified that he testified under subpoena, hence the absence of an explicit directive.
Furthermore, the LP’s counsel probed the lack of supporting documents accompanying the DSS report. Mohammed explained that the relevant documents were in his office and not available at the time of the hearing.
Mohammed said in their findings, they discovered the following:
“Mbah served for six months and went to Law School and later completed his youth service
“We discovered that Peter brought application from Law School through the Lagos State NYSC office to national headquarters
“The correspondence has a reference number: and the letter was replied permitting him to go to law school. After his Law School, he reapplied through the same means for reinstatement to complete his service
“We discovered a temporary file was used for reference. That means his initial file could not be traced.
“NYSC provided the six-series certificate which was signed and collected by corps members and the eight series
“We discovered that the numbers are in series. But NYSC could not account for 12 certificates among which includes Mbah’s certificate”.
Peter Mbah is facing a challenge from the Labour Party candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, over his alleged forgery of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
Edeoga, who came second in the March 18 governorship election, is praying the Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal to disqualify Mbah from the election on the grounds that he presented a forged NYSC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Edeoga’s petition alleges that Mbah’s NYSC certificate is fake because it contains several errors, including the wrong date of birth, the wrong state of origin, and the wrong name of his NYSC camp.
