Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun
Rights group SERAP has asked the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to clear the air over the allegations of certification forgery leveled against her.
The organization wants the minister to do so “without further delay’ and settle the facts of the case once and for all.”
A report by an online news medium, Premium Times, on 7 July, claimed that Adeosun failed to comply with NYSC Act, which made it compulsory for every Nigerian graduate at home or abroad to participate in one year service to the nation.
As stated by the report, the minister, who graduated from the Polytechnic of East London, now University of East London, in 1989 at 22 but did not take part in the mandatory scheme, got a fake NYSC exemption letter in 2009, seeing that she might need it.
Adeosun was born in England in 1967, and pursued all her education career in the country.
She was by the provisions of the NYSC Act required to undergo a mandatory service year for her to qualify for any position, be it in public or private sector in Nigeria.
And SERAP says that “Suspicions of certificate forgery involving a senior member of the government if not urgently and satisfactorily addressed would weaken public trust in the government’s oft-expressed commitment to transparency and accountability.”
As stated by the organization, Several days after being accused of forging her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate, Adeosun has yet to make any official statement in reaction to the alleged scandal.
“The failure to address the allegations may create public anger and lead to accusation of a cover-up. The public can become passive and cynical if it believes that people in a position of public trust are out for themselves. It is the core responsibility of any senior public official to prevent that cynicism,” it said in a statement.
“When those in a position of public trust refuse to speak up on allegations bordering on certificate forgery, it invariably creates a psychological climate, a moral culture in which citizens are more likely to embrace illegal actions and choose to undertake them.”