Gov. Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate not fake — DSS

A supposed staff of the Department of State Security, DSS, Mr Yahaya Isa Mohammed, has faulted claims by the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate which he submitted to INEC for the 2023 governorship election was fake.

DSS, in a report tendered to the Enugu Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday, said that NYSC did a shoddy and hasty investigation in coming to the conclusion that Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate was fake.

But the Labour Party immediately disagreed with the report, saying that it was a personal report not an official document that emanated from the DSS because it did not come on the letterhead and stamps of the service.

The DSS had in a statement on Oath adopted by its representative, Mr. Yahaya Isa Mohammed, at the ongoing Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Enugu, disclosed that the NYSC had misplaced Mbah’s original file and opened a temporary one for him, after he had returned back from Law School to complete his NYSC.

Mohammed said
that Mbah’s NYSC certificate issue arose because the NYSC had issues with maintaining a proper record-keeping system.

According to Mohammed, DSS in their findings discovered the following:

“Mbah served for six months and went to Law School and later completed his youth service.

“We discovered that Peter brought an application from Law School through the Lagos State NYSC office to national headquarters.

“The correspondence has a reference number and the letter was replied to permitting him to go to law school. After Law School, he reapplied through the same means for reinstatement to complete his service.

“We discovered a temporary file was used for reference. That means his initial file could not be traced.

“NYSC provided the six-series certificate which was signed and collected by corps members.

“We discovered that the numbers are in series. But NYSC could not account for 12 certificates among which includes Mbah’s certificate”.

But during cross-examination, LP lead counsel, Chief Adegoke Awomolo(SAN), observed that the report presented by the DSS official did not come with the letterhead and stamps of the security agency as against the normal practice, and sought to know the reason from the official, to which he responded that his signature sufficed.

When asked why he did not come to the court with authorizing letter or directive by the director general of the DSS, Mohammed, said he appeared in court because of the subpoena.

Also when the DSS official was asked why the report he presented did not have attached documents backing his claims, he also answered that they were in his office.

When he was asked if his investigation revealed that Mbah became the Chief of staff to the then governor of Enugu State, Chimaraoke Nnamani between July 10, 2003, and November 2003, the same period he was supposed to be serving as a corps member, Mohammed said no, adding that it was not within his purview to investigate that.