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.
Testifying on Tuesday as the second prosecution witness (PW2) before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, an NYSC Assistant Director in the Department of Certification, Yusuf Abubakar Jumare, said an investigation conducted by his department established that the certificate was not authentic.
Nnaji is facing six charges, including alleged forgery of his NYSC discharge certificate and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), degree certificate. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting him over allegations of certificate forgery and money laundering in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/389/2026.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Jimoh Abdulmumuni, SAN, Jumare told the court that his department commenced an investigation into the disputed certificate following a request from the ICPC.
He identified four major discrepancies which, according to him, established that the certificate was not issued by the NYSC. First, he said the certificate number, purportedly issued in 1985, carries the prefix “A”, which the Corps did not introduce until 1990.
Second, the call-up number on the document is “0137”, a four-digit number, whereas call-up numbers issued in 1985 had five digits. Third, he said the certificate indicates a service period of 13 months instead of the required 12 calendar months. The fourth discrepancy, according to the witness, relates to the designation of the NYSC chief executive who purportedly signed the document.
He explained that from the establishment of the Corps until after the period of Nnaji’s claimed service, the designation of its chief executive was “Director”, whereas the disputed certificate was signed by an official described as “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 had not been served with the documents and reserved its right to challenge their admissibility at a later date. In response, prosecution counsel explained that 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 is the custodian of all NYSC certificates, which are issued to corps members upon successful completion of their service year as evidence of their participation in the scheme.
The witness further explained that the NYSC sends call-up letters to universities for onward distribution to graduates, while universities are responsible for forwarding the names of eligible graduates to the Corps for mobilisation. However, Jumare admitted under cross-examination that he did not verify whether Nnaji had ever been issued an NYSC certificate.
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 Wole Olanikpekun, SAN. Other members of the legal team included Chief Ugwu Onoja, SAN; Bode Olanikpekun, SAN; and George Ibrahim, SAN.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until November 30 for the continuation of the cross-examination of PW2, while January 29 was fixed for the continuation of the trial.
