The
Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has defended his decision to skip
the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Shittu
explained that although he did not submit himself for youth service, he has not
broken any law.
He said as a
Minister, he has performed ‘higher service’ to the country.
The Minister
said this on Friday in Abuja, at the screening exercise conducted by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in preparation for the party primaries where he is
hoping to pick up the APC ticket to run for the seat of Oyo State governor.
Shittu said
despite not having an NYSC certificate he has performed higher service to the
country and therefore he is qualified to contest and win elections.
Shittu’s
reaction follows a report by an online news organisation, Premium Times,
that the minister skipped the compulsory programme despite graduating from the
University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU) at age 25.
Premium
Times has earlier reported that after months of discreet checks at the NYSC
headquarters, it was discovered that the communications minister did not
present himself for service after graduation and is yet to do so till date.
He also
admitted that he did not serve but claimed he thought his first political post after
graduation could suffice as national service.
The report
that Shittu did not do the mandatory NYSC is coming barely a week after Kemi
Adeosun resigned because the NYSC exemption certificate she presented was fake.
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