The Federal Government has lodged an eight-count charge against Stella Oduah, the former Minister of Aviation, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the charges accuse her of falsely claiming to have lost her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, among other allegations.
According to court documents made available on Monday, the charges were officially filed on June 26, 2023.
One of the counts states, “That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH AND D.A.O OSHINOWO (at large) sometime in the year 2017, at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit a felony, namely, making a document titled ‘Re: Request for National Youth Service Confirmation,’ which you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3(6) of the miscellaneous offences Act CAF M17 of the revised edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007 and punishable under section 3 (1) (c) of the same Act.”
Another count accuses the former minister of forwarding false credentials, including an affidavit and an extract from the police crime diary, to the Federal Government in 2011. These documents purportedly claimed that she had lost her NYSC certificate, leading to her nomination as a cabinet minister. The count states that she committed an offence contrary to Section 39 (2) (a) and punishable under Section 39 (2) (b) of the same Act.
Furthermore, it is alleged that Senator Stella Oduah forwarded the aforementioned false representation, which she knew to be untrue, resulting in her nomination as a cabinet minister. This act is said to contravene Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and is punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act.
This development follows the revelation by the NYSC last year that the former Anambra North senator did not complete the mandatory one-year program.
In a separate lawsuit last year, Mr John Emeka, a senatorial aspirant in Anambra, sued Oduah at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He sought an order invalidating her nomination as the Senatorial Candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State. Emeka alleged that the former minister provided false information under oath in her expression of interest and nomination forms, including the INEC Form CF001, which she submitted to the commission for the 2023 Anambra North Senatorial District seat.
He argued that she had used this fabricated information in previous elections as the PDP’s candidate for the 2015 and 2019 Anambra North Senatorial District polls. Emeka claimed that these actions violated Sections 12(1)(a)(b)(c) and 13(1)(a) of the NYSC Act.
However, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the suit on November 22, 2022, ruling that it was status barred.
