- Rights group HURIWA expresses concern over Minister Hannatu Musawa’s alleged NYSC bypass, questions vetting process and calls for clarification
- NYSC confirms Musawa as a serving Corps member amid controversy over her ministerial appointment, calls for resolution
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed concern about the new Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, who it claims abandoned her mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
In Nigeria, fresh graduates are required to serve the country for one year before seeking employment; however, according to the rights group, President Bola Tinubu circumvented this requirement by naming Musawa as a minister despite the fact that she had not completed the mandatory service year.
HURIWA, which issued the warning in a statement on Thursday, claimed Musawa dropped out of her NYSC program in Ebonyi State but later expressed interest in finishing it.
According to the group, the minister was later mobilized for completion of the service earlier this year and assigned to a law firm in Abuja prior to her appointment as a minister.
Hannatu Musawa was confirmed by the senate without proper screening and sworn in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as minister of arts, HURIWA said in the statement.
HURIWA wonders about the kind of scrutiny being conducted by the Department of State Services so much so that it wasn’t disclosed that the minister is a youth corper, the statement added.
The group urged the NYSC to make Musawa choose between her national youth service and her ministerial appointment.
When an online media organization asked for clarification, the NYSC’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, confirmed that she was a serving Corps member.
Yes she is a serving corp member, Megwa was quoted as saying.
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