‘Forgery’: Court restrains NYSC from issuing disclaimer against Peter Mbah’s certificate

A federal high court in Abuja has restrained the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)  from further issuing any disclaimer, denying the issuance of a certificate to Peter Mbah, Enugu state governor-elect. 

Inyang Ekwo, presiding judge, made the order on Monday while ruling on an ex parte application filed by the governor-elect through his lawyer, Emeka Ozoani. 

According to NAN, the motion ex parte was predicated on 10 grounds. 

Nbah claimed that after graduating in law from the University of East London in 2000, he returned to Nigeria and was admitted into the bar part 1 programme of the Nigerian law school.

The governor-elect said after completing the bar part 1 exam, he was required to wait for the bar part 2 programme and was told to enrol in the one-year NYSC programme instead of wasting time sitting around.

His lawyer said the plaintiff was called up for the NYSC and was deployed initially to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Apapa Quays, for his primary assignment but was rejected by the agency before securing the law firm of Ude & Associates. 

“The plaintiff in the course of his service year and after six months of NYSC, applied and was admitted approval to defer the NYSC in order to enable him to complete the bar final exam,” Ozoani told the court.

“Thereafter, the plaintiff was re-mobilized to finish the NYSC programme, which he did complete.”

He averred that upon completion of the NYSC service, he was issued the certificate of national service with No. A.808297 dated 6th January 2003.

However, in February 2023, the NYSC in a letter signed by Ibrahim Muhammed, director, corps certification, said the certificate belonging to Mbah was not issued by the corps. 

Prompted by the claim, Mbah approached the federal high court with an ex parte application.

After hearing Mbah’s counsel, the judge granted prayer one on the motion.

“An order of interim injunction restraining the defendants and respondents whether by themselves, their directors, officers, servants, legal representatives, counsel or any other person or persons howsoever described and connected, from issuing, publishing or continued to issue, publish disclaimer to the effect that the NYSC certificate of National Service dated 6th January 2003, certificate No. A.808297 issued to the plaintiff Barrister Mbah Peter Ndubuisi, in accordance with Section 11 of the National Youth Service Corps Decree No. 51 of 1993 was not issued by the National Youth Service Corps pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction filed in this suit,” the judge ruled.

Consequently, the trial judge ordered the applicant to serve the defendants with court processes within two days of the order. 

The judge declined to grant prayer two saying that it was far-reaching.

Ekwo ordered the plaintiff to put the defendants on notice before adjourning the suit to May 22.