Tinubu admin sues Stella Oduah as NYSC confirms she absconded from service
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah is back in court, this time being sued by the administration of President Bola Tinubu over alleged forgery of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate, felony, and other criminal acts.
The forgery allegation resurfaces a year after an Abuja Federal High Court dismissed
the case as being status barred, and is now woven into other criminal charges by the administration of Tinubu, who, ironically, is himself facing alleged certificate forgery in court.
The allegation is among a plethora of allegations levelled against Tinubu by political opponents asking the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to sack him as President, claiming he forged his biodata from cradle all the way to the Villa.
Oduah faces an eight-count charge, including falsification of documents, falsely claiming loss of NYSC discharge certificate, retention of government funds, and conspiracy to commit felony.
If found guilty she faces both a jail term and compulsory refund of all salaries and allowances she collected from the federal treasury as Minister and Senator.
The lawsuit, filed at the Benin Federal High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is different from the corruption charges the graft buster filed against her on June 26.
Part of the charges is that Oduah, who represented Anambra North Senatorial District in the National Assembly (NASS) between 2015 and 2023, claimed to have completed the mandatory one-year NYSC programme whereas she did not.
The suit, filed by EFCC counsel Ochugwu Ogbeh and Ibrahim Mohammed, listed the Federal Government of Nigeria as the Complainant and Oduah as the only Defendant.
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Eight charges against Oduah
Per reporting by Nairametrics, the eight charges are listed as follows:
Count 1
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH AND D.A.O OSHINOWO (at large) sometime in the year, 2017, at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspired amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: make a document titled ‘Re: Request for National Youth Service Confirmation which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3(6) of the miscellaneous offences Act CAF M17 of the revised edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007 and Punishable under section 3 (1) (c) of the same Act.”
Count 2
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year 2011 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did forward your credential to Federal Government of Nigeria among which is an affidavit and Extract from police Crime Diary, that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your nomination as a cabinet Minister and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 39 (2) (a) and punishable under Section 39(2)(b) of the same Act.’’
Count 3
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year 2011 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did forward your credential to Federal Government of Nigeria among which is an affidavit and Extract from police Crime Diary, that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your nomination as a cabinet Minister and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act.”
Count 4
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year 2011 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did forward your credential to Federal Government of Nigeria among which is an affidavit and Extract from police Crime Diary, that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your nomination as a cabinet Minister and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act.
Count 5
“Oduah in 2014 forwarded her credential to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the year 2015 among which is an affidavit and police report that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your election as a Senator Representing Anambra North Senatorial District and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act”.
Count 6
Oduah is accused of forwarding her credentials to the INEC in 2018 “among which is an affidavit and police report that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your re- election as a Senator for the second term Representing Anambra North Senatorial District and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act”.
Count 7
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year 2018 at Federal Capital territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did retain the aggregate sum paid to you as salaries and allowances by Federal Government of Nigeria as a Minister of Aviation and two-term Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the tax payers money knowing that same represent proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: obtaining by false pretense and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and Punishable under the same Section 17[b] of the same Act.”
Count 8
“That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the years 2011-2023 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud did obtain the aggregate sum of salaries and allowances as Minister and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from Federal Government of Nigeria under the pretense of being qualified with your credentials, the pretense you knew or ought to know to be false and thereby committed an offences contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offence Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Backstory
Anambra senatorial aspirant John Emeka had sued Oduah to the Abuja Federal High Court seeking an order invalidating her nomination as a senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Emeka asked the court to declare that the information Oduah supplied in her INEC Form CF001 with respect to her participation in the NYSC scheme is false.
He alleged that Oduah lied under oath in both her expression of interest and nomination forms, including in the INEC Form CF001 which she submitted to the Commission for the 2023 Anambra North Senatorial District seat.
The court, in a judgement by Justice Inyang Ekwo on 22 November 2022, dismissed the suit for being status barred.
NYSC confirms Oduah absconded from service
However, in May 2022, the NYSC, in a letter marked NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/Vol III, insisted Oduah did not complete the mandatory one-year NYSC scheme in response to an enquiry made by the Concerned Anambra North PDP Stakeholders.
The NYSC clarified Oduah began her NYSC participation in 1982 but absconded. It denied conspiring with Oduah to hide the truth.
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