‘It was the right thing for me to do’ — Kemi Adeosun says she resigned as finance minister to protect the office
Kemi Adeosun, former minister of finance, says she resigned as a cabinet member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in September 2018 to protect the office of the minister of finance.
Adeosun spoke on Friday when she appeared on a Channels Television’s programme, Inside Sources with Laolu Akande.
The former minister was responding to the issue of her exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
In 2018, Adeosun tendered her resignation as finance minister following allegations that she tendered a forged NYSC certificate as part of her credentials.
Adeosun said her resignation was a deliberate decision taken to protect to allow her to clear her reputation legally.
“People kept asking why did I resign? That no one resigns as minister of finance like I did? I still think it was the right thing for me to do,” she said.
“My resignation is a matter of principle and not an admission of wrongdoing. It was a step to protect the office of the minister of finance and defend my reputation.
“I can’t be attending local and international meetings as minister of finance and also appearing in a court in a case of integrity and reputation.”
The former minister noted that remaining in office while pursuing a lawsuit against the government would have been inappropriate.
“I knew I would need to go to court to clear my name and doing so was not compatible with being Minister of Finance representing Nigeria at the highest level,” she added.
“I went to see Mr. President and I said, ‘Mr. President, I need to go. I need to go to court because I have to clear my name’. Mr. President supported my decision to approach the court to clear my name through legal means.
“These names are leased from our children and our grandchildren. You don’t destroy your name because you want to stay as minister.”
A federal high court Abuja had in July 2021 ruled that Adeosun was ineligible for the one-year NYSC.
The court said she was not supposed to present herself for NYSC because under the 1979 Constitution, which was in force at the time of her graduation, Adeosun was not a Nigerian citizen either at the time of her graduation or when she turned 30.
Adeosun graduated from the University of East London in 1989 at the age of 22.
According to the ruling, the constitution does not require her to present her first-degree certificate or any other certificate, including the NYSC certificate, to be appointed a minister.
The court presided over by Taiwo Taiwo ruled that the ministerial appointment of Adeosun was not illegal, neither was it unconstitutional, even without presenting the NYSC certificate.
In its ruling on a suit for constitutional interpretation filed at the court in March 2021 by the firm of Wole Olanipekun, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on behalf of Adeosun, the court said since the 1979 constitution, which was in force at the time did not recognise dual citizenship, the former minister could not have served because she was a British citizen.
The court ruled that Nigeria citizenship only reverted under extant constitution by which time Adeosun was well above 30, and by the court ruling ineligible to participate in NYSC scheme as the scheme is exclusively reserved for Nigeria.
