Before I begin the business of the day, let me remind every Enugu indigene that I was the first person to draw the attention of the State to the vacuous nature of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s Nrashi philosophy. Even though it earned me public opprobrium at the time, ostensibly because I fouled the waters when everywhere seemed still, recent events, including the Governor's disastrous outing at the just-concluded polls have proved me right.

I am back again to forewarn you on the forthcoming gubernatorial contest in Enugu. Anyone that knows me knows I don't prevaricate over issues. Please read my lips, Peter Mba will not be sworn in as the governor of Enugu State in May, 2023! Reason? He will lose at the polls. And in the unlikely event that he wins, he will not be sworn in. What you are about to read is not fiction; it happened. And it is the story of how Peter Mba procured the fake NYSC discharge certificate that he parades today.Please read till the end.

While we await the response of the University of East London, a low-rate UK university recently upgraded from Polytechnic status to university, to our enquiries on the authenticity of Peter Mba's Bachelor's Degree, here is the full story of all that you need to know about his NYSC certificate saga.

On 7th January, 2002, Peter Mba was mobilised by the NYSC to partake in the mandatory NYSC scheme. After his camping activities, he was thereafter posted to Udeh & Co, a law firm located in Lagos at the material time, where he was to carry out his primary assignment duties. Within the intervening period, Peter Mba was appointed by the Chimaroke Nnamani to serve in his government. Having accepted the appointment, Mba relocated from Lagos to Enugu, thereby effectively absconding from the NYSC scheme.

Accordingly, on 6th January, 2003, when Mba's Corps mates passed out from the Service, he was not issued with a discharge certificate. Reason? He absconded from the service scheme. At the prevailing time, this counted for little to Mba as he did not, in the real sense of it, have any need for a discharge certificate. He was already a public officer serving at the highest level of the Enugu State Government, hence did not have much need for NYSC discharge certificate.

Peter Mba and Kemi Adeosun met at the University of East London where both are alumni. While Mba supposedly studied law, Adeosun passed out with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics. When the duo returned to Nigeria, Peter Mba proceeded to the prestigious Nigerian law school, Victoria Island, for his Bar Part 1 while Kemi Adeosun got employment at the Chapel Hill Advisory Partners (later to be known as Chapel Hill Denham Group when the company merged with Denham), an issuing house owned by Bolaji Balogun, a renowned investment banker.

Adeosun thereafter rose to become the company secretary of Chapel Hill Denham Group before eventually being appointed by Sen. Ibikunle Amosun to serve in his government as commissioner for finance from whence she was eventually appointed to serve as Nigeria's finance minister in the first half of the Buhari administration.

A cursory look at the above situations, therefore, reveals a common denominator. The duo's initial stint in the private sector and subsequent detour to public service did not present any compelling case for the presentation of NYSC discharge certificates in their respective job hunts. One does not require the NYSC discharge certificate to be employed in a private organisation in Nigeria, neither is it a prerequisite for the political appointments both of them had at the beginning of their careers. However, years after, when the duo became "successful" in their respective engagements, it became clear to them that NYSC discharge certificate could become an albatross to their careers going forward.

It was at this point that they enlisted the services of a syndicate to help them untwine their problems. Mba who was mobilised but could not finish his service sought the services of the syndicate to help him pull out his certificate from the custody of the NYSC. Note that the moment a Corps member is mobilised to serve, his/her certificate is promptly printed waiting to be issued on the POP day.

On the flip side, Adeosun needed the services of the same cartel to assist her procure an exemption certificate, having exceeded the age of 30 at the time of her indication to have NYSC certificate. Unlike Mba who was mobilised but absconded, Adeosun went straight into private sector employment on her return to Nigeria. This explains why one bore a forged discharge certificate and the other a forged exemption certificate.

Now, here is what happened.The syndicate Peter Mba contracted to pull out his certificate from the NYSC custody could not deliver on the job. Apparently, the cartel had insiders in the NYSC who showed them a copy of Mba's original discharge certificate but did not have the capacity to pull it out. Having tried and failed, the syndicate resorted to seeking the services of forgers outside of the NYSC who helped in forging a discharge certificate that was eventually handed over to Peter Mba.

However, as typical of every crime, this very forgery was not perfect. Peter Mba's original discharge certificate number was amongst the 7-series of the NYSC numbering order while the forgers mistakenly landed Mba in the 8-series order. This explains why Mba's certificate as we know it reads A808297 instead of A708297.

Now, read this!

NYSC has over the years maintained custody of thousands of uncollected discharge certificates belonging to several persons who absconded from the NYSC service scheme. Sometime in the past, a former NYSC Director-General wrote to the president of Nigeria seeking his approval to shred all the unissued discharge certificates in their custody. The memo to Mr. President included the names and certificate numbers of all the certificates sought to be shredded. Peter Mba’s original certificate was included in that official communication to Mr. President.

Consequently, the president, in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief who directly supervises the operations of the NYSC, largely due to its para-military status, wrote back to the NYSC authorising that the uncollected discharge certificates of the listed abscondees be shredded. The shredding was thereafter carried out and, in line with federal government's protocol, subsequently gazetted.

Did you understand the import of the above? I know you did. Now, Let's fast-forward to the exposé rendered by Omas & Partners, an Abuja-based law firm.

When the NYSC responded to the inquiries by Omas & Partners stating that the certificate Peter Mba parades was unknown to them, Mba thought that extinguishing the story would be a walk in the park, especially given his wide contacts in both business and social circles. To be fair to Mba, he did not know that what he was parading was forged. He paid money for his certificate to be pulled out, not for one to be forged for him. Same fate befell Kemi Adeosun as the same syndicate resorted to forging a certificate for her when they could not arrange authentic exemption certificate from inside for her.

When the scam blew open, Mba rushed to a very respected 1st-Class Emir in the North who chairs the board of his Pinnacle Oil for succour. The royal father who was not in the know of the full facts - especially as Mba suppressed the facts from him in order to attract his sympathy - promptly placed a call to his son-inlaw who is a member of the 1st family in Nigeria for intervention. When the road was cleared for Mba, he flew to Abuja and was introduced to the young influencial power broker who led him to the NYSC to confer with the Director-General.

At the NYSC, the DG who was appointed into the Service just about a month ago, after hearing Mba's case, summoned the director in charge of certificate issuance for his opinion on the issue. When the director pointed to the new DG that having gazetted the action as approved by Mr. President there was obviously nothing anyone could do, Mba was reported to have gone berserk. While the news report that he collapsed was obviously a media hype, Peter Mba actually lost words on hearing from the director that even the president of Nigeria did not have the powers to reverse the action.

Having said the above, it's therefore very instructive that the unwary is counseled to know that investing hope in Peter Mba's project is a misdirected effort; it's indeed a wasted investment for both the voters and political investors who donate resources with the hope of recouping later. I don't have the gift of clairvoyance but I am 99% certain that Peter Mba will not be the next governor of Enugu State. I enjoin you to go back and study the Supreme Court's verdict on Duoyo Diri Vs David Lion. That judgement speaks to why and how Mba will not be governor in May this year. Like I said above, if he peradventure wins against the run of play, he will still not be sworn in.

This is therefore a clarion call on our people to look very well before leaping. The allegations against Mba are too weighty to be swept aside by any court or tribunal. Therefore, any votes cast for Peter Mba on 11th March, 2023 is indeed a wasted vote. Let's vote wisely, please!

•Asogwa, a lawyer and foreign relations expert, is a member of the Human Rights Community in Nigeria. He’s the CEO of Afri Forecasts and can be reached @k.e.asogwa@afriforecasts.com