The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has intensified efforts to curb certificate racketeering by partnering with key national institutions including the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to fortify the registration and verification process for prospective corps members.
Director General of the Scheme, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, made this known while addressing the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Universities, Polytechnics, Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Youth Development, chaired by Honourable Abubakar Fulata.
He disclosed that the Scheme had upgraded its verification procedures by syncing academic credentials with applicants’ National Identification Numbers (NIN), in collaboration with NIMC. The move, he said, has greatly enhanced the integrity of the process.
Brigadier General Nafiu further stated that the NYSC has introduced stricter reforms to forestall a recurrence of incidents such as the 2024 infiltration of the Scheme by an investigative journalist, Umar Audu, who exposed a fraudulent route into the programme using a fake Benin Republic degree and alleged collusion with officials in the Federal Ministry of Education.
The NYSC boss, however, lamented the lack of modern biometric equipment which hampers effective verification. He appealed to the National Assembly for increased funding to enable the acquisition of advanced biometric tools and to address other operational needs of the Scheme.
Also speaking at the hearing, Umar Audu narrated how he manipulated the NYSC registration portal using a different email and phone number after facing initial challenges.
Representing the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Director of Education Support Services, Mrs. Larai Ahmed, revealed that the department responsible for issuing clearance to Audu had since been overhauled, with more robust safeguards introduced to prevent future occurrences.
