The Minister of
Finance Kemi Adeosun has resigned. It was gathered that she resigned her appointment
on Friday. However, Adeosun’s aides denied her resignation. It was also
gathered that officials of the Presidential Villa who were shocked by the news
were also calling the minister’s aides for confirmation.
Also reports have it that President Muhammadu Buhari decided
on Kemi Adeosun’s fate some few weeks ago. Two sources close to the government
told SaharaReporters on Friday that the UK-born Minister had resigned, but it
has now emerged that it was the President who indeed “told Adeosun to go”.
Although no official statement has been released on the
issue, but reliable sources confirmed her resignation on Friday. The
51-year-old former minister is reported to have resigned following pressure
arising from her questionable NYSC discharge certificate.
In November 2015, Adeosun was appointed Nigeria’s Minister
of Finance by President Muhammadu Buhari. Kemi was born in 1967 in London,
England to Nigerian parents from Ogun State. She earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in Economics from the University of East London and a Postgraduate
Diploma in Public Financial Management from the University of London. She
qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants
in England and Wales in 1994 and she was qualified for NYSC exemption on return
to Nigeria after clocking above 30 years of age. The story has been out there
that Adeosun forged her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge
certificate. Although she was qualified to formally obtain an exemption because
she was above 30, her exemption certificate has been questioned. She initially
ignored the forgery report, but her handlers later explained that she was not
guilty.
They painted those digging into the story as mischief-makers
who wanted to pull down a woman of substance. The NYSC headquarters also came
up with a terse statement that she indeed applied for an exemption and that it
was looking into the matter. Some citizens had dragged her to the Federal High
Court in Abuja which has fixed October 8 to hear the suit asking it to sack her
from office. The Chief Judge of the high court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati,
assigned the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/712/2018, to Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu for
expeditious hearing. The suit was filed by a Mr. Francis Obalim, a lawyer who
approached the court, praying for an order quashing and setting aside Mrs.
Adeosun’s appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Her
appointment he filed circumvented the condition precedent and in contravention
of mandatory Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the NYSC Act which is an integral part
of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The news of her resignation bursting the social media,
recording more 15,000 tweets already. Dr. Joe AbahVerified account @DrJoeAbah
tweeted: “I have just received, with sadness, news that Kemi Adeosun has
resigned. She is a talented, courageous woman who drove a lot of important
reforms as Minister of Finance. However, the NYSC saga had made her position
untenable & the situation was only going to go from bad to worse.’’ Some
people have praised her as one of the few Nigerians that have dared to resign
from office. Kemi Ariyo @d_problemsolver also tweeted: “If truly Kemi Adeosun
has resigned, she earns my respect. “This is the first time in the history of
Nigeria a minister or a leader will take a bold step to write a resignation
letter because of forgery allegation.’’ In his tweet, Niyi Balogun @ng_niyi
said: “Just shows how dirty the labyrinth of power can get. Great talent though.
Wish Kemi Adeosun best!’’
