Stella Oduah lied about her NYSC national service at NECA–Police

A Police Investigation Report (PIR) has said that former minister of aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, colluded with the Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Olusegun Oshinowo, to lie about completing her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) primary assignment with NECA in 1982.

The report signed by the head of the IGP Monitoring Unit, ACP Ibrahim Musa, and dated May 11, 2023 was in response to a letter by A. C. Ozioko asking for the certified true copy of the report.

The report said investigation was carried out on Oduah based on a petition written June 7, 2022 by Prince Casmir Ajulu complaining of conspiracy, impersonation, perjury, forgery and obtaining government money by fraud against Oduah and Oshinowo.

The report said that upon change of name, the SEB extended investigation to INEC and NYSC on Oduah and it was given documents. On receiving the documents, it invited Oduah severally for questioning but she did not honour invitations. The report also said Oduah wrote a petition dated December 17, 2017 to the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the re-assignment of investigation. This, the IGP granted and gave to the IGP Monitoring Unit.

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The report said the case was taken over as directed and reinvestigated and that “conspicuously missing” in the case file of the SEB was complainant statement and that there was no reason that explained their decision or assumption that Oduah is the same person as “Princess Odu Stephanie” mentioned in the petition.

It further said investigation was stopped on the strength of a legal advice dated 8th August, 2018 which stated that the name in the petition is not Oduah and that she didn’t forge NYSC Certificate as alleged.

According to the PIR, the letter dated 19th January, 2023 from Director of Litigation/ACR, High Court of Justice, Onitsha confirmed that Oduah deposed to an affidavit dated 23rd October, 2014 that sometime in 2010 she discovered some of her personal belongings were missing, including the originals of her credentials, and that all efforts to find them failed.

The certificates affected, according to her, were her West African School Certificate of 1978 obtained from Zixton Secondary School, Onitsha; First School Leaving Certificate obtained from St John, Odoakpu, Onitsha; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Certificate 1982 obtained from St Paul’s College, Virginia, USA; National Youth Service Corps 1983; National ID Card; USA Social Security Card with the numbers on it.

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But, the police report said, “That contrary to the content of the affidavit of fact and police extract from crime diary obtained by Princess Stella Oduah, the Director General of NYSC stated in their letter no NYSC/DHQ/PRU/122/ VOL. 1/125 dated 11th October, 2022 that ‘Stella Oduah was mobilized for National Service in 1982/83 service year and deployed to Lagos State, but she absconded after the orientation and never completed the national service, hence she was not qualified for the issuance of the certificate of national service.’”

The report said the position of the NYSC in the letter dated October 11, 2022 confirms its earlier position in the same matter in the letter dated October 5, 2016 to the police that Oduah never had certificate of national service but committed perjury by claiming she lost the certificate when none was issued to her.

It also said the report by NECA DG, Oshinowo, stating that Oduah completed her NYSC primary assignment with NECA in 1982 was not factual.

The PIR confirmed that Oduah was admitted into Zixton Secondary School in class 1A in 1973 and left in June 1978 in class five, adding that the school did not explain the reason behind the issuing of two different testimonial numbers 6054 and 6062 to Oduah in 2014 and 2019 respectively.

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It also said that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) confirmed Oduah’s General Certificate of Education was issued by it.

The report concluded that Oduah and Oshinowo’s conducts constituted offences of “criminal conspiracy, defrauding of the government, perjury and giving false information with intent to mislead a public officer.”

In July, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Oduah and others before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja over fraud-related offences.

The court adjourned the case to October 17, 2023 for trial.

Culled from The Niche