Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sued a former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, over an eight-count charge bordering on document fabrication, conspiracy to commit a felony and other offences.
The charges came amid controversy surrounding alleged falsification of documents by the former Anambra North Senator, suggesting that she completed the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
The suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, by Ochugwu Ogbeh W.A. and Ibrahim Mohammed of the Legal and Prosecution Department of the EFCC, in Edo State, with the Federal Government as complainant and Oduah as the only defendant.
One of the charges alleges that Oduah and D.A.O. Oshinowo (at large) conspired to commit a felony in 2017.
They are accused of fabricating a document titled, ‘Re: Request for National Youth Service Confirmation,’ while knowing it was false.
According to the charges, the act is punishable under Section 3(1)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAF M17 of the revised edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007.
Another count claims that Oduah, sometime in 2011, submitted her credentials to the Federal Government, including an affidavit and an extract from the police crime diary, falsely claiming that she lost her NYSC certificate, knowing that this representation was untrue.
This action led to her nomination as a minister, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 39(2)(a) and punishable under Section 39(2)(b) of the same Act.
In May 2022, NYSC made a revelation that Oduah did not fulfill the requirement of completing the mandatory one-year NYSC programme. NYSC disclosed this in a letter marked NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/Vol III. It said, in a letter signed by its spokesperson, Eddy Megwa, that Oduah began her NYSC programme in 1982, but absconded.
The letter was in response to an inquiry by a group known as the Concerned Anambra North Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Stakeholders.
