Kunle Sanni, Idris Alao, others clear air on Shittu’s national service, as APC clears him for primaries

By Bashir Adefaka

“Unfortunately for him, probably, those who sponsored him to write the report did not even want him to ask Shittu before he wrote the story but that he had to do that so as not to blamed for ethics breach.  However the truth remains that the reporter did a poor investigation.  Can I now tell you what the truth is?  There was argument against that position from the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) that Shittu could not go to the parliament of Oyo State without NYSC service because they knew he just finished in the university and needed to stop him at all cost.  Bola Ige, like Shittu a member-elect, was Governor-elect and as a lawyer already in practice, went to court to defend Adebayo Shittu telling the court that having been elected by his community as member of parliament, the then fresh graduate was as good as having partaken in National Youth Service Corp (NYSC).  And the court ruling favoured him and that was all.  Again, if the reporter was not acting a script, he would have got these facts.”

More voices have chosen to be heard over the Premium Times report about how another President Muhammadu Buhari’s minister, Dr. Abdulraheem Adebayo Shittu, skipped National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) one year service required for every university or polytechnic graduate in the country.

This came as a legal practitioner and some other people that either grew up as childhood friends of the minister or knew about issues surrounding his education and post-school periods jumped into the discourse and told the facts that they believe, except the purveyors of the published allegation have ulterior motives, are enough for them to look out for another such business elsewhere.

According to one of them, “If it is about Shittu’s education, national service and anything, this business of publishing damages against him over NYSC has failed.”

The new set of people who have come out to speak did so after The DEFENDER had Friday published a submission by a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Oyo State, Mr. Adebayo Mutalubi Ojo, who described the online newspaper (Premium Times) publication of NYSC scam against the minister as trumped up allegations that have no basis near the truth.

In his submission, a member of a support group for minister and Oyo State Coordinator of Muhammadu Buhari Organisation (MBO), Mr. Hammed Eleyele observed that what the online newspaper (not The DEFENDER) did that it called a breaking news of a burst scam by another Buhari’s minister is to tell Nigerians that it does not pay to be truthful and transparent.

Eleyele does not see professionalism in twisting facts after they have been given.  This is because he felt the media outfit probably had pre-judged position either of itself or the sponsors of the report which made the truth told them by the minister pave to nothing as they still have to go ahead to publish a scam knowing the nature of people most of the reading public in the country are.

Cogent among the reactions came from a legal practitioner, Mr. Idris Alao, a legal practitioner, Chairman of the Oyo State Muslim Council, Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni, whose positions agree with the earlier published of the former attorney general, Ojo, with Kunle Sanni saying Shittu may not be the next Oyo State governor until 2023 but that those who published the NYSC scam story were just playing tech politics that would lead to nothing.

Although the online media claimed to have asked the minister for his own side of the story before going to press, which it was told plainly that his service as member of parliament upon graduation had taken care of his national youth service, the alacrity by which the alleged NYSC scam was broken against the name of the Adebayo Shittu and as Buhari’s minister was viewed by a former Attorney General in Oyo State as unfortunate while some saw it as full of malice and mischief.

Others described the report as an effort to use half truth or pre-decided judgement to cost Shittu of the opportunity to seek the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the party’s forthcoming primaries in Oyo State.

In yet another frantic effort to ensure that the reigns of falsehood do not overshadow truth of history, the lawyer, Alao, wrote in an article he titled, “Bayo Shittu and NYSC Saga”, about why silence in evil intended matters like this cannot be golden.

Quoting Edmund Burke’s words, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, Mr Alao took his defence of the Nigeria’s Minister of Communications from the point of Kemi Adeosun’s allegedly fake NYSC certificate and then entered into the issue of Shittu from the perspectives of Premium Times.

He joined Kunle Sanni in giving what they insisted are the facts of the matter.  Sanni told us in a telephone conversation Friday night that although he is not on the same page politically with Shittu, but that whoever had published or sponsored that NYSC issue against him had told nothing but lies.

All accounts so far exposed what has been described by many watchers of the “scene 2” NYSC show as incompetence of the reporter “leading him to rush to report half truth and earn integrity loss rather than carefully investigating and asking question”, according to some of the respondents.

A source said, “There is no how a reporter would tell us that because minister had told him his parliament service represented his youth service, he had no reason for follow up questions.  One of the follow up questions should be okay, how did you arrive at taking the position that being elected member of parliament you had served the nation replacing youth service? Then the minister would have provided him further details that would help him against his ignorance.

“Unfortunately for him, probably, those who sponsored him to write the report did not even want him to ask Shittu before he wrote the story but that he had to do that so as not to blamed for ethics breach.  However the truth remains that the reporter did a poor investigation.  Can I now tell you what the truth is?  There was argument against that position from the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) that Shittu could not go to the parliament of Oyo State without NYSC service because they knew he just finished in the university and needed to stop him at all cost.

“Bola Ige, like Shittu a member-elect, was Governor-elect and as a lawyer already in practice, went to court to defend Adebayo Shittu telling the court that having been elected by his community as member of parliament, the then fresh graduate was as good as having partaken in National Youth Service Corp (NYSC).  And the court ruling favoured him and that was all.

“Again, if the reporter was not acting a script, he would have got these facts.  He would then have asked, ‘Okay Sir, why did you not apply for NYSC to issue you exemption of service certificate?’ He would have also been helped with the information he required.  The truth is, for instance, when Chief Bode George felt he needed a national pardon and not to be called ex-convict like opposition were calling him, instead of asking the president whose prerogative it is to grant national pardon, he approached the Supreme Court and the apex court simply clear of offences leading to his conviction for which he served jail terms for two and a half years.  Today can you call Bode George an ex-convict? No.  Because if you do, you know the implication by law.

“So, it was not necessary for Shittu to get any certificate of exemption from NYSC because what he had was equivalent.  Then what would that be standing for? And if he had done that then, the matter would worse now because not above 30 years at that time.  So, you journalists should go and add the fear of God to your job.  Thank you,” the source said.

The position of the source, who insisted on anonymity, also was not different from the position of others.

Idris Alao the legal practitioner wrote:

“Following the resignation of the immediate past Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun over procurement of fake NYSC Exemption certificate last week, the news broke today that the Minister of Communications, Barrister Adbayo Shittu, who is also a gubernatorial aspirant in the forthcoming Oyo state governorship election is allegedly involved in yet another NYSC scandal. This time the claim is that the Honourable Minister didn’t participate in the one-year mandatory National Service for fresh graduates of Nigerian descent who have not reached their 30th birthday.

“Having graduated from the then University of Ife in 1978 and attended the Nigerian Law School in 1979, Shittu contested for the seat of Member of the Oyo State House of Assembly in 1979 and emerged winner in the said election under the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria. Some months after the elections, the leading opposition party, the National Party of Nigeria, alleged that Shittu is not qualified to hold the office as he didn’t pass through the one-year mandatory National Service. In the wisdom of the NPN, Shittu must be sued. Eventually the matter was brought before the Oyo State High Court and the judgment of the court favoured him as it was held that his (Shittu’s) representation of his community is regarded as his service to his fatherland.

“It is unfortunate that Nigerians, especially the youths, are being fed with lies and unfounded allegations about the true state of the National service as it involved the Honourable Minister. Those with the correct information of political history in the country way back in 1979 have started giving their informed opinion about the matter. Alhaji Kunle Sanni, gave the insight into the matter indicating that the allegation was not a new one given that it was raised by the NPN and Shittu eventually won the case. A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Oyo state, Adebayo Mutalubi Ojo, also opined, on the strength of the case, that being a member of the parliament is equivalent to National Service. Our findings indicate that one Razaq Apalara Esq. was the counsel to Honourable Bayo Shittu at the time.

“The law is settled that when there is a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction whose jurisdiction is not impaired for whatever reason that judgment remains valid and enforceable until upturned by a higher or appellate court. This was given judicial endorsement in the celebrated case of Abacha and Fawehinmi. According to the court, “The position of the Apex court with regard to existing order, judgment or ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction is that no matter palpably null and void, unattractive, remains good law and binding until set aside by a Superior Court of competent jurisdiction.””

Then Alhaji Kunle Sanni did the final clearing in his piece, “ON THE BAYO SHITTU`S NYSC SAGA” as follows:

“I think 1979 is a long time when our mutual friend ( Friend of Zak , Bolaji and I) could not take part in the NYSC because he was already elected into the Oyo House Of Assembly being the youngest member when Ajimobi’s father was a member. It is interesting that this case went to court and the Governor elect then Chief Bola Ige defended Shittu and won they ended up as the bitterest enemies.

“Some people on this platform may think I am defending the Minister because I was not only one of his childhood friend. I was his best man when he married his first wife of blessed memory Sariyu. Zak would bear me out that today politically in Oyo state politics, we are not on the same page. My submission is that the court had ruled in his favour. It is a different kettle of fish with the case of Kemi Adeosun who is not a lawyer but an Accountant. If she is a typical Nigerian obsessed with tenacity of office she would have gone to court to seek for an injunction.
With some millions of Naira changing hands at the judiciary, the case would have been on a Marathon scale till the end of even her second term as Minister

“Look at the former Governor of Abia, Kalu his money laundering case had been on for over 8 years. Ditto for Rasidi Ladoja of Oyo state. How many months is left for Shittu to leave office?

“I am not prognosticating, though I don’t know who is the next Governor of Oyo state but I know Shittu is a neophyte taking into cognisance the situation on the ground. Our friend is a serial contestant. He may however make it in 2023. Those trying to wake a sleeping dog from her slumber in shittu’s NYSC abstention saga are just playing high tech politics,” Kunle Sanni said.

In the meantime, the APC had cleared Shittu as qualified to contest for the forthcoming governorship primaries in the Oyo State.