The Department of State Services (DSS) has dismissed reports that the NYSC passing out certificate of the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah is fake. Giving testimony before the Enugu Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday, DSS said that the governor’s certificate is authentic. The DSS slammed the NYSC for what it described as a shoddy and hasty investigation with the conclusion that Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate was fake. The DSS had, in a statement on Oath adopted by its representative, Mr. Yahaya Isa Mohammed, at the ongoing Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Enugu, disclosed that the NYSC had misplaced Mbah’s original file and opened a temporary one for him after he had returned from Law School to complete his NYSC. The secret police said it discovered that the certificates given in Mbah’s series were found to have been issued to corps members in Lagos, contrary to NYSC’s claim. Mohammed, who is the DSS Deputy Director, Operations and Strategic Department, was subpoenaed to give evidence in defense of Mbah’s NYSC certificate. He added that NYSC was also unable to trace to whom or which state or states of the federation 12 of its certificates, A808297 to A808308, were issued, adding that the security agency commenced an investigation into the discharge certificate controversy following a petition to it by Dr. Mbah dated February 8, 2023. He pointed out that Mbah’s NYSC certificate issue arose because the NYSC had problems maintaining a proper record-keeping system. Mohammed said in their findings, they discovered the following. “Mbah served for six months and went to Law School, and later completed his youth service; “We discovered that Peter brought application from Law School through the Lagos State NYSC office to national headquarters; “The correspondence has a reference number: and the letter was replied permitting him to go to law school. After his Law School, he reapplied through the same means for reinstatement to complete his service; “We discovered a temporary file was used for reference. That means his initial file could not be traced; “NYSC provided the six-series certificate, which was signed and collected by corps members, and the eight series; “We discovered that the numbers are in series. But NYSC could not account for 12 certificates, among which includes Mbah’s certificate.” However, during cross-examination, LP lead counsel, Chief Adegoke Awomolo (SAN), observed that the report presented by the DSS official did not come with the letterhead and stamps of the security agency as against the usual practice and sought to know the reason from Mohammed, to which he responded that his signature sufficed. Also, responding to why he did not come to the court with authorizing letter or directive by the Director General of the DSS, Mohammed said he appeared in court because of the subpoena. Furthermore, Mohammed said the attached document backing the report was in the office. Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) earlier on Wednesday failed to present any witness to defend the allegation by the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Chijioke Edeoga, that the 2023 governorship election that produced Peter Mbah as governor was manipulated.
