Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday confirmed the authenticity of the Certificate awarded to Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah by the National Youth Service Corps NYSC and slammed a N5 million fine against the corps for alleging that the discharged certificate held by the governor was fake..
The judge, in a judgment, held that the Director General of the NYSC and the corps, who were defendants in the suit, were guilty of misrepresentation of facts.
He held that the certificate presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by Mbah was authentic and validly issued by the NYSC.
The court further held that evidence before the court showed that the governor though was mobilised for service in 2001, he, however, completed his service in 2003.
Justice Ekwo said Mbah, midway into his service, sought and after received permission from NYSC to attend the Nigeria Law School, was reinstated into the NYSC in 2003.
The judge said that while the evidence that Mbah served in the law firm of one Udeh was not challenged by the NYSC, he berated the corps for not charging the governor for forgery if they actually believed that they didn’t issue the said NYSC certificate to him.
The court concluded that the NYSC was mischievous and acted in bad faith by denying Mbah’s NYSC certificate.
Justice Ekwo had on May 15, restrained the NYSC, Muhammad and any of their agents from, henceforth, engaging in such publication pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.
This followed an exparte motion filed by Mbah’s counsel, Emeka Ozoani SAN against the NYSC and its Director , Corps Certification,Mr Ibrahim Muhammad for publishing a disclaimer, denying the issuance of a discharge certificate issued to him on January 6,2003.
The NYSC in the build up to the Governorship election had on Feb. 1, written a letter signed by Mr Ibrahim Muhammed saying that the NYSC certificate belonging to Mbah was not issued by the corps.
Mbah was elected governor of Enugu state after being declared the winner in the March 18,2023 Governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
