President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the resignation of the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who has finally publicly admitted that her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate was forged.
A statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Friday said Buhari thanked Mrs Adeosun for her services to the nation and wished her well in her future pursuits.
The President also approved that Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, should oversee the Ministry of Finance with immediate effect.
In her resignation letter dated September 14, 2018, the former minister noted that she was shocked by the outcome of the investigation done on the allegation that her NYSC certificate, which she had earlier tendered as commissioner for finance in Ogun State, was not genuine.
She said that in 2011, she tendered it before the Ogun State House of Assembly for screening as a commissioner and for clearance by the Department of State Services (DSS) and was cleared.
She said she got screened again by the National Assembly when she tendered it for ministerial screening in 2015.
Adeosun said that not until the scandal broke out, she never knew the certificate was not genuine.
The minister said she was born and brought up in the United Kingdom and that until she was 34, she had only been visiting Nigeria with her UK passport on holidays.
According to her, she obtained her first Nigerian passport at the age of 34.
She said until recent events, her understanding of the applicability of the NYSC law to her was that due to her residency history and having exceeded the age of 30 when she relocated to Nigeria, she was exempted from the requirement to serve.
She said it was on the basis of that understanding and the advice of those she thought were “trusted associates” that the NYSC was approached and she received the exemption certificate in question.
