A Pro-Democracy group in Kwara State, popularly known as Kwara Must Change, has said it received with utmost surprise a report alleging that the Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Hon. Razaq Atunwa, forged his National Youth Service Corps scheme certificate.
The group said this in a statement on Tuesday.
It said in the statement signed by its President, Abdulrazaq Hamzat: “We find this allegation very strong and weighty and rather than allow the issue remain a mere allegation, we call for proper investigation into the matter by the police to ascertain the credibility of the story and if true, as eventual prosecution of the culprit.”
In an exclusive report by Premium Times newspaper, it was reported that Atunwa did not participate in Nigeria’s compulsory NYSC.
Instead, he allegedly procured a forged discharge certificate of NYSC, which he submitted to the PDP to prove his eligibility for public office.
Kwara Must Change said should the Atunwa’s NYSC forgery scandal be confirmed to be true, this would be an indictment on the Kwara State Government and the Kwara State House of Assembly in whose government Atunwa has been working for about 15 years.
According to the group, since it is not allowed for anyone without NYSC certificate to work in Nigeria and contrary to this law, Atunwa has been working in the country since 2005, serving under the Kwara State Government in various capacities, including Commissioner for Land, Works and Transport, Information and Home Affairs, Finance as well as serving as Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly and now a member of House of Representatives, the culpability of the Kwara State Government cannot be under emphasized.
To secure the PDP governorship ticket on October 1, Atunwa was said to have submitted a counterfeit NYSC discharge certificate and accompanied it with an affidavit, indicating he lied on oath, an offence that attracts up to 14 years in jail.
Atunwa — who claimed he qualified for law practice in the United Kingdom after obtaining undergraduate and master’s degrees at separate universities in London — indicated in the nomination document he submitted at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja that he partook in the youth service scheme between 1995 and 1996.
The lawmaker accompanied it with a notarised affidavit sworn at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on September 10.
The document was attached to his PDP expression of interest form.
He signed the document despite a clause indicating he remained automatically disqualified as candidate if any statement or information he provided is found to be false, inaccurate or misleads the party or its agents from making proper assessment of his competence to contest the governorship election on the platform of the PDP.
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