NYSC Disowns Ex-Minister Nnaji’s Discharge Certificate, Identifies Four Defects

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has disowned a discharge certificate linked to former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Geoffrey Nnaji, telling a Federal High Court in Abuja that the document was not issued by the Corps.

Nnaji is standing trial on six charges, including alleged forgery of his NYSC discharge certificate and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) degree certificate.

Testifying on Tuesday as the second prosecution witness (PW2) before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, the NYSC Assistant Director in the Department of Certification, Yusuf Abubakar Jumare, said an investigation by his department established that the certificate was not genuine.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting the former minister over allegations of certificate forgery and money laundering in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/389/2026.

Nnaji, who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the forthcoming Enugu State governorship election, was represented in court by a team of lawyers led by Chief Woke Olanikpekun, SAN. Other members of the legal team included Chief Ugwu Onoja, SAN; Bode Olanikpekun, SAN; and George Ibrahim, SAN.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Jimoh Abdulmumuni, SAN, Jumare said his department began investigating the certificate following a request from the ICPC.

He identified four discrepancies which, according to him, established that the document was not issued by the NYSC.

First, he said the certificate number, which purportedly dated back to 1985, carried the prefix A, although the Corps did not begin using that prefix until 1990.

Second, the call-up number on the document contained four digits, 0137, whereas call-up numbers issued in 1985 had five digits.

Third, the certificate indicated a service period of 13 months instead of the required 12 calendar months.

Fourth, Jumare said the document was not signed by the appropriate head of the NYSC at the time Nnaji claimed to have completed his service. He explained that the head of the Corps was designated as Director during the relevant period, while the certificate bore the signature of a National General.

The prosecution also tendered copies of correspondence between the ICPC and the NYSC concerning the disputed certificate. The documents were admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.

However, the defence informed the court that it would raise its objections to their admissibility at a later stage, explaining that it had not been served with the documents.

In response, the prosecution counsel said he had only recently taken over the case and undertook to make the documents available to the defence.

During cross-examination by Bode Olanikpekun, SAN, Jumare maintained that the certificate was not issued by the NYSC.

He told the court that his department was responsible for keeping records of all certificates issued by the Corps. He explained that discharge certificates were given to corps members only after they had completed their service year and served as evidence of completion.

Jumare further stated that the NYSC sent call-up letters to universities, from where graduates collected them, adding that only universities forwarded graduates’ names to the Corps for mobilisation.

He, however, admitted that he had not checked whether Nnaji had ever been issued an NYSC certificate.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until November 30 for the continuation of the cross-examination of the witness and January 29 for the continuation of the trial.