Graduates Who Skip NYSC Can Contest For Governorship – Court Insists

A federal capital territory (FCT) high court has ruled that graduates who didn’t take part in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme can’t be disqualified from governorship election.

This was stated following a suit brought against Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun, by Iyabo Anisulowo, a former senator.

In December, Abiodun was allegedly discovered to not have taken part in the compulsory NYSC program, even though he finished his first degree in 1986.

Yesterday, in a pre-election suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/34/1019, the former senator asked that Abiodun be made to step down as the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) because he skipped the NYSC scheme.

Wale Ajayi, the governor’s counsel, prayed the court to ignore the case since having the NYSC certificate is not a requirement to hold public office.

In his judgment, M A Mohammed dismissed the first defendant’s notice of preliminary objection and proceeded to deliver judgment on the substantive suit.

Mohammed also held that the NYSC Act does not make provision for the disqualification of a candidate who failed to participate in its scheme.

He said that a candidate can only be disqualified under Section 177 of the constitution which states that “a person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if:

(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
(b) he has attained the age of thirty-five years;
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and
(d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”

The case was however dismissed.

Following the judgement, graduates seeking to be governors would no longer be asked to present their NYSC certificates.

The supreme court also dismissed a similar suit on Monday after Abdulrafiu Baruwa had approached it to challenge the qualification of Abiodun on the ground of failure to disclose all his academic qualifications.