By Dipo Olowookere
Former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Saturday returned to the United Kingdom (UK) after resigning from the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.
This followed her admittance of being in possession of a forged certificate of exemption from the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
In July 2018, an online news platform, Premium Times, published a report alleging that Mrs Adeosun was in possession of a forged certificate.
After the story broke, many Nigerians and some civil organisations called for her resignation, but she refused to comment on the issue.
The NYSC, after the report, confirmed that the former Minister did apply for an exemption from the scheme, but did not say if it eventually issued the certificate to the London-trained economist. However, it promised to look into the matter and make its findings known.
On Friday, the Minister disclosed that she tendered her resignation after knowing that her NYSC exemption certificate was “not genuine.”
She blamed her woes on “trusted associates”, who helped her with the NYSC certificate, when she returned Nigeria at the age of 34.
Mrs Adeosun earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of East London at the age of 22 and was supposed to return to Nigeria for the NYSC scheme since she did not graduate at the age of 30, the age exemption for the national service.
According to reports, the former Minister returned to the UK on Saturday, where she will likely settle down and make her next career move.
Adedapo Adesanya