By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

A coalition of civil society organisations has petitioned the presidency and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to probe the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, over controversy surrounding his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate, allegedly issued in 2023.

The petitioners — Accountability Front for Justice and Good Governance, National Youth Reform Coalition, and Civil Action Network for Transparency, submitted the joint petition on Tuesday, while further demanding that the presidency to mandate Mr Tunji-Ojo to step aside to allow for a full-scale investigation into his NYSC certificate issuance.

The coalition described the case as “a constitutional and ethical matter that strikes at the very heart of integrity, justice, and public accountability,” insisting that no government official should be shielded from scrutiny.

According to the petition, Mr Tunji-Ojo was first mobilised for the NYSC scheme in 2006 at the age of 24 but allegedly absconded from service.

The petitioners claimed that the NYSC officially confirmed that the minister did not complete his one-year mandatory service at a stretch.

Thirteen years later, in 2019, Mr Tunji-Ojo was said to have been re-mobilised to complete his service year.

However, during that same period, the petitioners noted that he was serving as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Akoko North-East/North-West Federal Constituency of Ondo State — a dual role that, according to the coalition, violated constitutional provisions prohibiting public officers from holding two remunerated positions simultaneously.

Despite reportedly completing the service in 2020, the coalition stated that no discharge certificate was issued at the time.

The groups alleged that a new certificate mysteriously surfaced in 2023, signed by an NYSC director-general who the coalition claimed was not in office during the purported service year.

The NYSC’s explanation that Tunji-Ojo’s name was “omitted during printing” was dismissed by the petitioners as “suspicious, irregular, and inconsistent with established NYSC administrative procedures.”

The coalition cited several laws that could have been breached, including: Sections 2 and 13 of the NYSC Act, which criminalise absconding from service or using forged NYSC certificates; Paragraph 2, Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits public officers from receiving salaries from more than one public office; and Sections 19 and 25 of the ICPC Act, which prescribe up to seven years’ imprisonment for any public officer who receives double remuneration or acts corruptly.

They further argued that if Mr Tunji-Ojo indeed participated in the NYSC programme while serving as a federal lawmaker, it would constitute “an abuse of office, conflict of interest, and violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.”

The petitioners also accused the Tinubu administration of selective justice, referencing the resignation of a minister from the South-East over certificate scandal.

“Just as a minister from the eastern part of Nigeria was asked to resign pending investigation over certificate irregularities, the same standard of accountability must apply to Minister Bunmi Tunji-Ojo,” the coalition wrote. “Justice must not wear ethnic or political colours.”

The coalition outlined four major demands: That Mr Tunji-Ojo steps down immediately to allow for an independent investigation; that the presidency directs the NYSC, ICPC, and the CCB to investigate the authenticity of the 2023 certificate; that the National Assembly opens an inquiry into possible double remuneration between 2019 and 2020; that the issue be treated as a matter of national integrity and not political affiliation.

The coalition urged President Tinubu to act “decisively for history, for justice, and for Nigeria.”

“This is not merely about Bunmi Tunji-Ojo  it is about whether the rule of law still governs our democracy,” the petition stated, adding that “If selective justice is allowed to stand, it will erode public confidence in government institutions and deepen cynicism.”