On Sunday, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar reacted to the allegation by the corps member who publicly criticised economic hardship in the country, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, that NYSC withheld her certificate after completing her 1 year of service.
Uguamaye had alleged that the National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate was not given to her even after her service year was extended.
Reacting to the revelation, Atiku described the situation as “unacceptable” and potentially politically motivated, saying that it was wrong to punish a citizen for exercising her right to free expression.
In a post on his X page, he demanded a swift action by the authorities towards resolving the matter, warning that such incidents undermine public trust in national institutions.
He wrote; “What manner of impunity is this? Everything should not be subjected to politics.
“I hope that Ushie Rita Uguamaye’s NYSC discharge certificate is not being withheld because she had the courage to complain about the economic hardship under the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“It is unacceptable that the young lady, who had served her country without queries, should not have received her National Youth Service Corps certificate one year after passing out.
“The appropriate authorities should take urgent steps to ensure that she gets her discharge certificate.”
Ushie, popularly known as Raye, had gained public attention several months ago after a video of her criticizing the state of the country’s economy went viral.
She had slammed Tinubu for not being up and doing and putting Nigerian citizens through difficult times and hardship describing him as a “terrible President”.
The issue had gone south after several politicians summoned her to their offices which further led to an alleged extension of her service year.
Related News:
NYSC Denies Extending Service Year of Corp Member Who Criticized Tinubu
Meanwhile, Raye had completed her one-year mandatory service in Lagos State and took to Instagram on Saturday to lament that she was denied her certificate of completion.
According to her, the NYSC officials claimed she failed to do her April clearance on the scheduled date.
She revealed however, that her reason for missing the clearance on the said month was due to the attitude of the LGI who had delayed her and later refused her clearing herself for the month.
In the vlog, she said “I did not get my NYSC certificate today after one year of serving this country.
“I literally went there with my cohort, or should I say the people we served together, and when it got to my turn, they said no certificate for you.
“After one year of moving to another man’s land, to serve my country, ended with no certificate and telling me to come for final verdict that we already know how it’ll end.
“I genuinely wish I wasn’t a Lagos state Corper because it’s a waste of my time. I can’t say moving here was bad but serving here isn’t all pleasure.
“Just to add to it, they said the reason I’m not getting my certificate is because I didn’t clear myself for the month of April on my scheduled date.
“But what they aren’t saying is how I was present to get cleared, yet the LGI kept asking me to go to the back, and when she finally wanted to attend to me, she said she wouldn’t clear me.
“She seized my file and told me to get out. This is a long story, and I don’t mind waking up at midnight to tell the story.
“The deep-rooted anger I feel and hatred is crazy because I don’t know who to direct it to.
“But I wish myself the best. And I’m closing this chapter.”
However, the NYSC board is yet to refute the allegation or make an official statement as at the time of reporting this.
