August 11, (THEWILL) — Despite interventions from human rights advocates, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, and Omoyele Sowore, as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, all of who have kicked against the National Youth Service Corps’ decision to withhold the Certificate of National Service due a Corps Member, Rita Uguamayei (State Code: LA/24B/8325), it seems the matter is about to escalate to a full-scale controversy.
In a latest development, the NYSC on Sunday issued a statement refuting claims that Miss Uguamayei, popularly known as ‘Raye’, was denied her Certificate of National Service because of her criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s government.
It described the allegations as false, saying, “Raye is one of 131 corps members whose CNS was withheld not as punishment for dissent, but for valid disciplinary reasons. Specifically, her service year was extended by two months because she failed to attend the April biometric clearance, as required by the NYSC Bye-Laws,” the statement read.
The NYSC emphasised that such extensions are standard procedure and applied uniformly, with no political motive involved. According to the scheme, similar sanctions have long been imposed on corps members who fail to meet clearance obligations.
Raye had previously attracted public attention after a TikTok video in which she criticised the Tinubu administration and described Lagos as “smelling” went viral. She later issued an apology after facing backlash over the video.
While Sowore and other Nigerians claimed that the delay in issuing her certificate might be politically motivated, the NYSC, however, insisted the decision was consistent with its regulations and not linked to political considerations.
The management of the NYSC urged the public to assess the matter objectively and avoid politicising routine administrative processes.
Also, Falana on Sunday described the NYSC’s decision as “illegal” and “a cheap demonstration of over-zealousness.”
The human rights lawyer argued that no competent court had authorised the seizure of the certificate.
He said, .”Since Nigeria is under a democratic government, Rita Uguamayei’s fundamental right to criticise the government is guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
“It is pertinent to remind the NYSC authorities of the Democracy Day speech of President Bola Tinubu, wherein public officers were cautioned against suppressing dissent and that silencing critical voices could lead to unrest and undermine democracy.
“In line with the commitment of the President to encourage Nigerians to criticise the government, the management of the National Youth Service Corps should release the NYSC discharge certificate of Rita Uguamaye without any further delay.”
Earlier, on Saturday, Raye had taken to Instagram to reveal that she was denied her NYSC certificate when she went to collect it alongside fellow corps members.
She said NYSC officials told her that she failed to do her April clearance on the scheduled date, a claim she strongly refuted.
Raye claimed she had presented herself for clearance but was repeatedly told by her Local Government Inspector to wait.
She alleged that the LGI later refused to clear her, seized her file and asked her to leave the office.
Raye rejected the NYSC’s explanation, insisting she had shown up for clearance but was deliberately denied by her Local Government Inspector.
At this juncture, the matter seems confusing, but we believe that, even it is true, the NYSC’s explanation is not sufficient for withholding Raye’s CNS after serving her country for a whole year. We agree with former Vice President Abubakar that such an act may undermine goals of the Scheme and similar institutions in the future if continued.
We therefore urge the NYSC to release Rita Oguamayei’s CNS as soon as possible.
