By Adadainfo
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections in Enugu State, Mr Peter Mbah, Saturday, said he genuinely completed his national youth service programme.
Mbah, a lawyer, was reacting to allegations that he forged the NYSC certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Speaking on ‘Freedom Square’, Enugu’s Solid 100.9 FM talkshow, Mbah said the confusion about his NYSC certificate might have emanated from the fact that he broke from the scheme to enable him to complete his Bar Part I exam which was distrupted, ‘being an overseas graduate’.
In his words, “I did my youth service, and I was duly discharged, and I have my certificate. The confusion is because I had a break in the process. As an overseas graduate, when we were done with our Bar Part I, the next thing was for us to do our Bar Part II.
“But as we were just completing our Bar Part I, the Bar final students started. We were encouraged by the then DG of Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School, Prof Abayomi, to go and do our youth service. So we went.
“Eight months into our youth service, we were told to return to complete our Bar final. The honourable thing I did was to write the NYSC to inform them that I was going to break my service.
“The letter is still there. I then returned, did my course, and completed my Bar final, and then returned to complete my remaining months of my youth service. I have a letter remobilizing me to go and complete my youth service.
“On the surface, when I finished, the certificate I was given has the same date as my original set. If you don’t have this background, you wonder why I should be in law school, and should have an NYSC certificate. The documents are available.”
Total Support for Rule of Law and Justice Initiative had, in a press conference in Abuja, claimed that the NYSC certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission by Mr Mbah was denied being issued by NYSC.
