The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has disowned a discharge certificate linked to former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Geoffrey Nnaji, telling a Federal High Court in Abuja that the document was not issued by the Corps.
Testifying on Tuesday as the second prosecution witness (PW2) before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, NYSC Assistant Director in the Department of Certification, Yusuf Abubakar Jumare, said an investigation by his department established that the certificate was fake.
Nnaji is facing six charges, including alleged forgery of his NYSC discharge certificate and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, degree certificate. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting him over alleged certificate forgery and money laundering in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/389/2026.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Jimoh Abdulmumuni, SAN, Jumare said his department commenced the investigation following a request from the ICPC.
He identified four major discrepancies which, according to him, established that the certificate was not issued by the NYSC.
First, he said the certificate number, purportedly issued in 1985, carries the prefix “A”, which the Corps did not begin using until 1990.
Second, the call-up number on the document is “0137”, a four-digit number, whereas call-up numbers issued in 1985 had five digits.
Third, the certificate indicates a service period of 13 months instead of the required 12 calendar months.
The fourth discrepancy, according to the witness, concerns the designation of the NYSC chief executive who purportedly signed the document. He said the designation from the Corps’ inception until after the period of Nnaji’s claimed service was “Director”, whereas the certificate was signed by a “National General”.
The prosecution also tendered copies of correspondence between the ICPC and the NYSC concerning the disputed certificate. The documents were admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.
The defence, however, informed the court that it had not been served with the documents and would raise its objections to their admissibility at a later date.
In response, prosecution counsel explained that he had only recently taken over the case and undertook to make the documents available to the defence.
During cross-examination by Bode Olanikpekun, SAN, Jumare maintained that the certificate was not issued by the NYSC.
He told the court that his department is the custodian of all NYSC certificates, which are issued to corps members only after they complete their service year as proof of completion.
The witness further explained that the NYSC sends call-up letters to universities, where graduates collect them, while only universities forward the names of graduates to the Corps for mobilisation.
However, Jumare admitted that he did not check whether Nnaji had ever been issued a certificate by the NYSC.
Nnaji, who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the forthcoming Enugu State governorship election, was represented in court by a team of lawyers led by Chief Woke Olanikpekun, SAN. Other members included Chief Ugwu Onoja, SAN; Bode Olanikpekun, SAN; and George Ibrahim, SAN.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until November 30 for continuation of the cross-examination of PW2 and January 29 for continuation of the trial.
