BEVERLY HILLS, June 27, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that a candidate cannot be disqualified from an election for failure to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The court made this pronouncement on Wednesday when it struck out a suit brought against the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, by Senator Iyabo Anisulowo.
The suit challenged the eligibility of Abiodun to run for governorship over his failure to participate in the NYSC scheme.
Justice M A Mohammed, in his judgment, dismissed Abiodun’s notice of preliminary objection and proceeded to deliver judgment on the substantive suit.
The judge also noted that the plaintiff failed to establish that Abiodun presented false academic claims to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He held that the NYSC Act does not stipulate that a candidate who failed to participate in the NYSC scheme be disqualified from elections.
The judge pointed out that a candidate can only be disqualified based on Section 177 of the Constitution, and subsequently dismissed the suit.
The section states: “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 court said since Abiodun has not breached any of these provisions, the suit lacked merit.
THEWILL recalls that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), last year, disqualified the then Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, from running in its governorship primaries in Oyo State for skipping the NYSC scheme after taking a degree in Law in the late 1970s.
Also, Kemi Adeosun was forced to step down as Minister of Finance after it was revealed that she forged an NYSC exemption certificate which enabled her to be cleared for an appointment first as a commissioner in Ogun State and then as a minister in 2015 by President Buhari.
She had graduated from an institution in the United Kingdom before the age of 30, which made her eligible for participation in the NYSC scheme.
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