Rights activists sue Abuja to court over Musawa’s NYSC palaver
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A group of civil rights activists has sued the federal government to court seeking the nullification of the appointment of Hannatu Musawa as Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Minister before completing the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The plaintiffs argued in the papers filed at the Abuja Federal High Court that Musawa, a serving NYSC member, is not legally qualified to be a Minister.
Cited as first, second, and third defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS /1198/2023 are President Bola Tinubu, federal Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi, and Musawa.
Tinubu, who appointed Musawa, is himself neck deep in controversy and court cases in Nigeria and the United States over allegations of identity theft, age falsification, perjury, and forgery of degree certificate from Chicago State University (CSU).
The plaintiffs in the suit against Musawa are Deji Adeyanju of Incorporated Trustees of Concerned Nigerians, Patrick Eholor, and Thomas Markus – who filed the court papers through their lawyer Ihensekhien Samuel.
They are asking the court to determine:
- “Whether by provisions of section 2 (1) and (3) of the National Youth Service Corps Act and Section 4(9) of the NYSC Bye-laws (revised 2011), the 3rd Defendant, being a current NYSC member, is not prohibited from becoming a Federal Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
- “Whether by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, whether the same qualification of a federal member of the House of Representatives is not also the same qualification for the appointment of the 3rd Defendant as a Federal Minister and whether same qualification is not mandatory for the 3rd Defendant to be a Federal Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
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Related articles:
SERAP alerts, Tinubu already violating Constitution by banning journalists
Tinubu has 2 CSU certificates and “either ‘A’ or ‘B’ is fake (if not both)”, lawyer tells US court
Tinubu asks US court to hide his CSU records to shield him from public scrutiny
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Reliefs sought by plaintiffs
Per reporting by Vanguard, the reliefs the plaintiffs are seeking include:
- “An order nullifying the initial recommendation, resolution to be a minister, appointment and swearing in of the 3rd Defendant as a Federal Minister of Nigeria.
- “An order setting aside the swearing in of the 3rd Defendant in this regard. And An order for a mandatory injunction setting aside all official actions as may be carried out by the 3rd Defendant acting in an official capacity from the commencement of and swearing in of the 3rd Defendant to the final conclusion of this suit.”
- The sum of N100 million against the defendants as general damages and N1 million to cover the cost of the litigation.
In a 13-paragraph affidavit attached to the suit alleged Musawa concealed the fact she is a serving corps member in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The plaintiffs reiterated the NYSC Act and bye-laws forbid corps members from taking up paid employment or accepting partisan political appointments.
“That NYSC press officer, in an official statement, actually in a trending report, remarked and deprecated the action of the 3rd Defendant to be appointed as a Federal Minister and also to be involved in partisan politics in the 1st Defendant’s Executive Presidential Cabinet,” they said.
The plaintiffs argued it would be in the interest of justice to grant all their reliefs.
No date has been fixed for the hearing.
