NYSC act is not a joke’ – Daniel Bwala reacts to Hannatu Musawa’s NYSC saga

 

Hannatu Musawa, the minister of culture, the arts, and the creative economy, should pay a fine or serve a year in jail, according to Daniel Bwala, a PDP chieftain, who made the statement on Tuesday.

Musawa’s nomination as a minister has been dogged by controversy ever since Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil society group, claimed that she was serving in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet while also being required to complete the statutory one-year national youth service.

The management of the NYSC later admitted that the minister is currently a serving youth corps member.

There are reports that Musawa was mobilised for the national service in September 2002 and posted to the Ministry of Justice, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

She, reportedly, redeployed to Kaduna State in February 2003 but failed to complete the service.

The minister eventually, in 2023, reenlisted for the national youth service in order to obtain an NYSC discharge certificate, which is a requirement for public service appointment.

The development has led to calls for Musawa’s sack from the cabinet, with many Nigerians arguing that it was not proper for a youth corps member to be appointed minister.

However, others have backed Musawa’s ministerial appointment, noting that there is no law that forbids an NYSC member from serving as a minister.

Speaking on the matter on Arise Television on Tuesday, Bwala, a former PDP presidential campaign spokesman, noted that Musawa committed an offense is she failed to complete the national youth service programme.

Bwala pointed out that Section 13 of the NYSC Act stipulates that anybody who failed to complete the service year is liable to pay fine, or serve a 12-month prison sentence, or suffer both penalties.

Section 13 of the NYSC Act stated: “Any person who fails to report for service in the service corps in the manner directed by the Directorate, or who refuses to make himself available for service in the service corps, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N2,OOO, or to imprisonment for a term of 12 months.