WHY JUSTICE INYANG EKWO SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DETERMINE FOR NYSC THE AUTHENTICITY OR OTHERWISE OF ITS DOCUMENTS.

*By John Agbo (John Lead) 9/11)2023*

"There is a higher court than the court of
justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts"- Mahatma Gandhi. But people like Justice Inyang Ekwo must have gruesomely murdered their own consciences such that that subconscious sense of guilt and shame that accompanies the act of engaging in what is considered evil, anti-social, unjust and unpatriotic, no longer take hold of them no matter what they do.

The only certificate usually issued by a court of law is an affidavit of things like age, change of name, etc. A client usually approaches the court in person or through his counsel to obtain such an affidavit. In some instances, the affidavit can be inform of an avowment stating that the client is no longer in possession of an original document as a result of theft, accident or other unforseen circumstances. In doing this, the court ultimately relies on confirmation of a copy of the lost document by the issuing institution before according legality to the available copy.

Another category of certificates issued by the court includes death certificate, marriage certificate etc. Yours sincerely recently accessed the later after succeeding in my search for a life partner. Again in doing any of the above, the court does not arbitrarily or authomatically award these special kinds of certificates to seekers. It normally verifies the claims of the seekers. For instance, in the case of marriage certificate, the court does not award such certificate to any man who just walked into the court and demands it. No, he has to come with the person he is getting married to as a condition and evidence of the consent of the families involved to enable the court verify that they are actually getting married. In my own case cited earlier which involved a registered church, I was privileged not to have visited the court in person as the law permits registered churches to carry out such process unbehalf of the intending couple so that on the day of the church wedding, one received certificate of marriage issued by the court under the Marriage Act of Nigeria as well as the one issued by the officiating church.

But the judgement handed over to the embattled governor of Enugu State Mr. Peter Mbah recently by the ever controversial and heavily corrupt (in) Justice Inyang Ekwo, of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, to the effect that the discharge certificate of the National Youth Service Corp, (NYSC), being paraded by the governor is not forged despite having been diclaimed by the NYSC itself, does not fall into any of the categories of cases listed above. It is one which has attracted the widest opprobrium in recent time among analysts and opinion leaders in legal matters. That Inyang Ekwo maintained blind eyes to the overwhelming fact that Barr. Peter Mbah was a Chief of Staff in Enugu State as at the year 2003, the same time he claimed to be doing his NYSC in far away Lagos State is not the only issue. The main crux of the case is that the issuing institution of the certificate which the embattled governor forged had severally came out to vehemently deny and disclaim ever issuing such certificate to Mr. Mbah.

NYSC was so precise and committed in the matter to the extent that it had through its director of corps certification, Ibrahim Mohamed, appeared before the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal where the matter topped the list of points adduced by the Labour Party's gubernatorial candidate Barr. Chijioke Edeoga in his quest to reclaim the mandate of Enugu people through legal procedure and left a legally binding testimony that Mr. Mbah was never issued any discharge certificate by the agency having absconded before the end of his service year. Again that the three-man panel that handled the Enugu tribunal decided to tow the path of shame in its decision to discard the far-reaching NYSC testimony over a frivolous, needless and legally feeble technicality is only a flip side of the matter in question. For as long as the unanimity of condemnation trailing the Ill-fated judgement persists among lawyers of high repute, its subsequent reversal by higher courts is almost a sure bet hopefully.

What is of utmost concern in this case is the potentiality of degrading the national monument called the NYSC with the speed of an enzymatic reaction. In fact, with the manner and nature of the ruling of Inyang Ekwo, it is sensible to conclude that if not challenged and reversed by all concerned, then Nigeria as a nation has succeeded in transferring the role of awarding NYSC certificates and determining who actually served the nation and who did not to the Federal High Court Abuja, led by Justice Inyang Ekwo and ofcourse to any other willing judge of any court in Nigeria. And once this is done, a cascade of activities that would invariably eclipse the relevance of our certificate awarding institutions will abound.

Another concern of equal relevance is the character and nature of the man at the centre of this entire controversy, Peter Mbah, and why Nigeria as a nation has continued to harbour such individuals as the Enugu governor at corridors of power. This is a country where a very great chunk of its population cherishes the idea of inhabiting developed countries of the world such as Europe and America. As a matter of fact, an average Nigerian sees life in those countries as heavenly and would do everything possible to join a continuously growing retinue of fellow country men who reside or regularly visit those white man's countries. This means that Nigerians by nature are not immuned to good environment, improved source of income, a well-behaved populace etc which are abundantly obtainable in those countries. However what has persistently defied logical explanation is the fact that the people of this country, Nigeria, represented by their political leaders have refused to realize that the European and American countries they cherish and always ran to for medical attention et cetra, is a creation of functional laws.

It is an underwhelming fact to state that the difference between Nigeria and the countries Nigerians regularly pray to visit or relocate to is the existence of functional state laws which the authorities of those countries have over the centuries ensured that they are obeyed and applied at all cost. But in our mother land here, laws and rules are mere cosmetics and irrelevant appendages. That Nigeria as a nation does not realize that these facts alone constitutes over eighty percent of why the country is mainly seen as an animal enclave by the civilized world remains a puzzle yet to be solved.

Any nation that operates on rules and laws cannot allow the likes of Barr. Peter Mbah to continue to percolate the fabrics of its politics. Here is a man who never obeyed Nigeria laws at any point in his entire life and yet keeps getting away with it at all time. How did the freshly graduated young man without any work experience, emerge a Chief of Staff to a governor at a time he was supposed to be doing his NYSC when the civil service rule is that a graduate must present a certificate of national service in order to qualify for such appointment? Why was he not screened? Again how did Peter Mbah get out of the case that fetched him ten months detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following his embezzlement of billions of naira belonging to Enugu State? How did the record of his plea bargain that eventually set him free from that case disappear from Nigeria judiciary till date? Was it not the same man who has been running helter skelter since the reality of his forgery was discovered? What about going to the extent of contaminating the Department of State Service DSS, which intruded in a matter it has zero official role in? How about Mbah's kiddish move to use the same Inyang Ekwo's court to issue an injunction that restrained the NYSC from coming to court to state the facts surrounding his forgery? It is interesting to note that this particular injunction was destroyed by a higher Court of Appeal's order which then mandated NYSC to obey the subpoena order already issued to it by the tribunal.

How many times will things happen in this country before we decide to call a spade by its name? I have continued to nurse a personal opinion that Mr Peter Mbah ceized to be the properly constituted governor of Enugu State right from the day the Director General of NYSC Brig. General Yusuf D. Ahmed, appeared in a national television to disclaim emphatically the NYSC discharge certificate which Mbah parades. In a legally minded society what oaght to have followed was a directive from either the National Assembly or a court of competent jurisdiction to INEC to withdraw the certificate of return it issued to Peter Ndubuisi Mbah and hand same over to the second runner up in 2023 governorship election of the state since the relevant authority has confirmed that he presented a forged certificate for the election. It is supposed to be Peter Mbah's duty to prove beyond all reasonable doubts that he didn't forge the said certificate. And in doing this, the only authority saddled with re-echoing what Mbah is saying, if it is true, is NYSC not Inyang Ekwo's court or any other court for that matter.

Nigeria runs the most complicated and outlandish legal system among all countries on earth. It ought not to follow the pathway of Election Petition Tribunal to oust Peter Mbah from Enugu government house since the highest authority in this case has spoken both in writing and in words. Going to court to prove anything would have only been plausible if what is been said pertaining the said certificate is a mere heresay which in this case will warrant the court inviting NYSC to give the authentic account of the whole thing. This boils down to what I have always said in close quarters that the major problem of Nigeria is lack of institutional control system. In this country nobody controls anyone in any level of authority. That is why a federal university or hospital Chief Executive, for instance, can run the institution he heads the way he wants without anyone questioning him or her.

In a sane clime, the moment NYSC DG announced to the hearing of the whole world that the agency never issued any certificate to Peter Mbah, a mechanism of action that will oust Mbah immediately should have been activated. And I continue to ask, what is the role of our Presidency? Our two National Assemblies? Why is the country run like nobody's business? So it is my considered view that an error was committed in not making the governor of Enugu State step down the moment it was discovered that he forged his certificate. Prosecution ought to have followed suit by the institution whose certificate was forged since forgery is a criminal offence. Going to court over this matter was absolutely unnecessary if Nigeria of today operates responsible system and institutions.

Now that the whole faults has ended up empowering Mbah to purchase favourable judgement from the likes Justice Ekwo, the entire institutional integrity of NYSC and other certificate awarding institutions in Nigeria is about to be eradicated nationwide just because of Peter Mbah. Of what spectacular benefit is Mbah's governorship to Nigeria as a country especially considering how he handled public office in Enugu State in the past? Why must Nigeria allow Peter Mbah to destroy NYSC beyond repay? With the way things are going currently, it is doubtful if this country can correct the mistake of allowing Peter Mbah remain in office after NYSC confirmed that he forged his certificate. And I ask how was it ascertained that the former minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun forged her own certificate? Did anyone go to court before it was confirmed? No. What of former minister of communication, Adebayo Shitu?? Did any one go to any court to prove his own forgery? Again the answer is no. In both cases, all that were done was verification from NYSC. And once the agency confirmed that they all forged their certificates, they were all made to vacate their offices. Why then is Mr. Peter Mbah's case so different that more than five months after his forgery was discovered and proved, he has continued to illegally occupy Enugu State's Lion Building as a governor? Was he born so special in a way Adeosun, Shittu and the rest of us were not born?

While we continue to ponder on the above, we must all accept the reality that allowing Justice Inyang Ekwo's judgement to stand out of any primordial consideration is a direct means of allowing the court to usurp the role of not only confirming the authenticity of certificates issued by our institutions but also empowering it to be issuing the certificates by itself.

Agbo is an Enugu based freelance journalist and a writer

Judges should be dethroned and made normal lawyers once they give judgement. This is the most corrupt judge I have ever seen in my life

TheOldGods:
Judges should be dethroned and made normal lawyers once they give judgement. This is the most corrupt judge I have ever seen in my life

You for Blame Bola Tinubu & APC as usual? Corrupt Peasant like yourself, calling a whole Federal Judge corrupt?

I no blame you, Poverty na your problem.

favor914:
You for Blame Bola Tinubu & APC as usual?

bro, I have never blamed tinubu for anything. We are the cause of our problems. How can the original institution write a letter with their letter head and signature, yet a corrupt judge nyang whatever should be dethroned. To be honest this country is so bad.

This post should be why justic nyang should be dethroned. And that will set a lesson for other corrupt judges.

Ok

favor914:
You for Blame Bola Tinubu & APC as usual? Corrupt Peasant like yourself, calling a whole Federal Judge corrupt?

I no blame you, Poverty na your problem.

Oga, buying judges in Nigeria is very easy... unless you haven't had a case before. Those people are extremely easy to penetrate. You just need someone who knows them to help you buy them and win a case. That's the kind of country we live in. Funnily enough, nobody punishes them for their wrongdoings anymore.

They can determine for Nigeria abi, joblessness is bad

favor914:
You for Blame Bola Tinubu & APC as usual? Corrupt Peasant like yourself, calling a whole Federal Judge corrupt?

I no blame you, Poverty na your problem.

They are corrupt. Is it not NYSC that owns the certificate.
Meanwhile, anyone needs to be blame must be blame. If your Tinubu misrule, he will be criticized