Photo: Miss Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Arts and Culture
Musawa’s appointment as minister illegal —NYSC, Lawyers
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that the appointment of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Miss Hannatu Musawa, was done in violation of the provisions of the NYSC Act and thus illegal.
The Director, Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, who made this known to newsmen, confirmed that Miss Musawa is currently a youth corps member in the FCT and has been serving there for the past eight months.
He explained that it was against the NYSC Act for any corps member to pick up any government appointment until the one-year service was over, and, therefore, Musawa, who is currently doing her one-year youth service is occupying the ministerial position in breach of the Act.
According to the NYSC, Musawa was originally mobilised in 2001 for the youth service to Ebonyi State where she had her orientation programme but later relocated to Kaduna State to continue the programme.
Megwa explained that when Musawa got to Kaduna, she absconded and didn’t complete the programme, adding that the scheme would look into the issue and take necessary action.
Reacting to the development, a senior lawyer, Abeny Mohammed (SAN) said the minister’s appointment was a breach of the NYSC Act, which states that nobody should be legally employed or offer themselves for employment without doing the service and presenting the certificate or would have been exempted and had the certificate of exemption.
“The situation we have at hand is that this person is still serving as a corper and she has been appointed a minister. It shows the inconsistency in our policies and disregard for our laws,” he said.
Also lending his voice to the controversy, another senior lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) said it was a violation of the law for anybody to still be serving in the NYSC and accept a ministerial appointment.
“A Youth Corps Member is not Competent to be a Minister in Nigeria.
“By virtue of Section 2 of the NYSC Act, every citizen who graduated from any tertiary institution in and outside Nigeria and was not 30 years old shall be mobilised for the one-year compulsory national youth service, while any person above 30 is not eligible to participate in the service,” Falana said.
