Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, has denied a statement attributed to her by a section of the media in relation to her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) status.
In a statement by the Deputy Director, Press at the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Suleiman Haruna, Musawa said the published statement did not emanate from her and, as such, dissociated herself from it.
Haruna said: “The attention of Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, The Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, has been drawn to a recently circulating piece…The piece is inaccurately associated with her in relation to the current NYSC discussion.
“The Hon. Minister clarifies that she has not released any official statement regarding the aforementioned matter and kindly asks the public to be cautious of unverified information.”
The minister added: “For clarity, I wish to state that I have not issued any statement on the current issue.”
A section of the media recently published a statement purportedly issued by the minister saying she had not broken any law by holding a ministerial position and undergoing the national service at the same time.
The purported statement read:
“I will like to state clearly that contrary to wrong insinuations and false assumptions in a section of the mainstream media and social media where false accusations have been made, there is no breach of any law or constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended regarding my current position as a Minister and status as serving Corp member.
“It must be said that there is no law of Nigeria or any part of the our constitution and NYSC Act that states that a serving Corp member can not be appointed by the President of Nigeria or any other appointing authority into political positions. Equally, no part of our existing laws and NYSC Act says that a corps member must finish service before he/she can be appointed into political office. There is no legal and constitutional limitations whatsoever. I have not broken any law of Nigeria.”
