The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, claims Hannatu Musawa’s ministerial appointment while still a serving corp membe negates the NYSC Act.
Eddy Megwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has stated that the Minister of Arts and Culture, Hannatu Musawa, who is currently doing her one-year mandatory youth service, is occupying the ministerial position in breach of the NYSC Act.
Speaking with newsmen, Megwa confirmed that the minister had been serving for the past eight months in the FCT.
Megwa further explained that it negates the NYSC Act for any corps member to pick up any government appointment until the one-year service is completed.
Stating that Musawa was previously mobilized in 2001 for the youth service in Ebonyi State, where she had her orientation programme, he revealed she later relocated to Kaduna State to continue the programme.
He revealed that it was in Kaduna that she absconded without completing the programme.
Megwa disclosed that the scheme would look into the issue and take action where necessary.
Commenting on the issue, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Abeny Mohammed (SAN), stated that the action was a breach of the NYSC Act, which stated that nobody would be legally employed or offer themselves for employment without completing the service and presenting the certificate, or would have been exempted and had the certificate of exemption.
Mohammed said, “The situation we have at hand is that this person is still serving as a corper and she has been appointed a minister. It shows the inconsistency in our policies and disregard for our laws.”
In the same vein, Femi Falana (SAN) stated that it was a violation of the law for anyone to still be serving in the NYSC and accept a ministerial appointment.
Falana, in a statement titled “A Youth Corps Member is not Competent to be a Minister in Nigeria”, stated that by Section 2 of the NYSC Act, every citizen who graduated from any tertiary institution in and outside Nigeria and was not 30 years old shall be immobilized for the one-year compulsory national youth service, while any person above 30 was not eligible to participate in the service.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
