The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, has announced that the scheme is working with agencies like WAEC, JAMB, and NIMC to improve the verification process for prospective corps members.
He made this known while speaking at an investigative hearing organized by the House of Representatives joint committees on certificate fraud. The hearing was chaired by Honourable Abubakar Fulata.
Nafiu explained that NYSC has partnered with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to link certificates submitted by prospective corps members with their National Identification Number (NIN). This, he said, will make the verification process more secure.
He also mentioned that stricter measures are being introduced to prevent incidents like the case of journalist Umar Audu, who enrolled in NYSC using a fake degree from a university in Benin Republic. Audu had allegedly bribed officials in the Federal Ministry of Education to get clearance for NYSC registration.
However, Nafiu raised concerns about the lack of modern biometric equipment, calling for more funding to upgrade NYSC’s verification systems.
Umar Audu, who also spoke at the hearing, admitted that he manipulated the NYSC registration system by changing his email and phone number to bypass verification.
Representing the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Director of Education Support Services, Mrs. Larai Ahmed, said the department involved in Audu’s case has been reorganized to prevent future fraud.
The committee chairman praised Audu for exposing the loopholes in the system and directed security agencies to ensure his safety for the next ten years.
