Isaiah Davies Ijele, Convener of the League for Good Governance, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for allegedly shielding former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, from scrutiny over issues relating to his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Saturday, Ijele said the government must uphold transparency and accountability in handling the matter. He warned that failure to subject the minister to investigation would raise serious concerns about the administration’s commitment to the rule of law.
“Every government has had the responsibility to be transparent and also protect the integrity of the administration. And that is one of the things that President Tinubu promised Nigeria,” Ijele said.
He recalled that similar certificate controversies had led to resignations in previous governments and insisted that the same standard should apply to the current administration.
Ijele said the decision to protect the minister from investigation was unacceptable and inconsistent with democratic principles. “If President Tinubu refused to allow him to be scrutinized as to be investigated by the DSS, trust me, we are living in banana republic. Nobody is above the law. No big man. No matter how influential you are in this country, you should not be above the law,” he said.
He expressed concern over calls by certain groups urging the President to shield Nnaji, describing such actions as a threat to the nation’s integrity. “I’m so surprised to see some group of people now calling for the President to shield. The word shield means protect, hide. If you are using an umbrella, meaning there is rain or sunshine. So, telling Mr. President to shield Olubumi, meaning there’s something there,” he said.
According to Ijele, the League for Good Governance is committed to ensuring accountability in public service. “We’re going to bring to light some of the irregularities from the NYSC to the Senate and then to even INEC. And all this has to be brought to the table so Nigeria can see exactly what is Olubumi doing and what are the skeletons that must be revisited,” he stated.
The activist also drew attention to what he described as inefficiencies in the ongoing reforms at the Nigeria Immigration Service, particularly the centralisation of passport production. He said the process had led to widespread errors and financial losses.
“Decentralization of the production means every state, whatever is captured in every state, will be produced in the FCT. Now, in the recent time, they produced millions of passports,” Ijele explained.
He continued, “Now, the problem lies especially on the date of birth of those who renewed their passport. I don’t know where the centralization system got their information on such individuals. So the date of birth are not tallying with the passport.”
“Now, if it is allowed to be produced within the state, at least they will check their system and upload it accordingly. So there is something either a technical error or the use of NIN that doesn’t tally with their date of birth is the major problem,” he said.
Ijele concluded by emphasising the importance of integrity in governance, stressing that transparency and adherence to the rule of law are vital to maintaining public trust.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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