Hannatu Musawa: Who is playing this little bird’s drum?
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The fact that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Hannatu Musawa as the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy is no longer news.
Also, the fact that Hannatu Musawa was appointed as Minister while still serving as a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is also no longer news; at least that has been confirmed by the Youth Service Corps management.
Besides the admission by NYSC management, Hannatu has herself confirmed being a serving corps member in a press release she “personally signed” but refuted claims of breaching any law as reported in the media.
She said that after her graduation from the University, she was mobilized to Kaduna by NYSC but family obligations could not let her finish the program.
In another statement, however, she denied issuing the statement.
Denial or not, NYSC authorities have stated categorically that Hannatu violated the Act guiding the program for picking up ministerial appointment.
Eddy Megwa, spokesman of NYSC, explained that it was a breach of the NYSC act for any corps member to pick up government appointment until the one year of service was over.
He further explained that Musawa was originally mobilised in 2001 for the youth service to Ebonyi state where she did her orientation programme but that she relocated to Kaduna to continue the program but absconded and didn’t complete the program.
Beyond the back and forth of whether she is a serving “youth corper”, and beyond the tug-of-war of whether she issued the statement or not, there is another apparent underlying current.
It has been revealed that Hannatu was nominated for appointment by former President Muhammadu Buhari as a commissioner representing the Northwest at the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).
The Senator Ahmed Lawan-led 9th Senate reportedly shot Musawa’s nomination down over her inability to submit her National Youth Service Corps certificate.
The Senate cited that as the sole reason for her rejection.
Having failed in her bid to become PENCOM commissioner, she didn’t spare any effort to clinch a ministerial position in the Tinubu dispensation, and in the latest instance, with style.
The Senate reportedly only asked her to “take a bow and go” without interrogating her academic qualifications, including the controversial NYSC discharge certificate.
One then wonders who this Hannatu Musawa really is, and how powerful she could be to penetrate two separate governments, headed by two equally separate leaders from two separate regions and ideologies who have openly indicated that there is no love lost between the two governments.
The question begging for answer, therefore, is:
- Who is playing Hannatu Musawa’s drum?
- Who is pulling her strings and whose tunes is she dancing?
- Who is this powerful figure that could influence the choice of Buhari’s Commissioners and Tinubu’s Ministers?
Until these questions are successfully answered and adequately laid to rest, Hannatu Musawa may continue to surface in our political atmosphere like a recurring decimal.
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In the meantime, though, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has written off her career as an open and close case, saying that her days in office may have been numbered.
Falana (SAN) made the remarks in an undated essay entitled “The Supreme Court may have cut short the Honourable Minister’s joy” attributed to him, while addressing the controversies surrounding Hannatu.
Reacting to the hullabaloo surrounding her appointment, the legal icon, Falana, cited section 2 of the National Youth Service Act, which mandated every citizen who has graduated at any tertiary institution in and outside Nigeria and is not 30 years old to be mobilised for the one-year compulsory national youth service, noting that persons above 30 are not eligible to participate in the service.
He also cited Section 4(9) of the NYSC Bye Laws (Revised 2011) which provides that every member shall not take part in partisan politics, adding that any member who takes part in partisan politics is liable to extension of service for a period not less than three (3) months without pay.
Further, he cited Section 13 of the Act which provides that any person who fails to report for service in the service corps in the manner directed by the Directorate or who refuses to make himself available for service in the service corps is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of 12 months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Falana pointed out that any person who is disqualified by law to be a lawmaker is also disqualified to be appointed as a minister as they have similar requirements.
He then cited the case of MODIBO v. USMAN & Ors where the appellant contested and won election into the House of Representatives while he was undergoing the national youth service.
The Federal High Court had ruled that a youth corps member was not qualified to contest election in Nigeria but Court of Appeal set aside the judgment on the ground that a youth corps member is not constitutionally disqualified from contesting election.
The Supreme Court, however, slammed the appellate court and affirmed the decision of the trial court, insisting that the defendant contravened some provisions of the National Youth Service Act and Bye-Laws.
Drawing inspiration from the authoritative pronouncements of the apex court, Falana concluded that Hannatu Musawa has not completed the compulsory one-year youth service, hence, not eligible for appointed as Minister since the Constitution prescribed same qualifications and disqualifications for election and appointment.
It is left to be seen what Tinubu will do with respect to Hannatu minding the barrage of evidence before him.
It also left to be seen if any person, persons of organisation will challenge her appointment in a court of competent jurisdiction. Read more.
The author, Tim Elombah, is the Editor of News Band.
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