Former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has attributed her resignation from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to the activities of what she described as “powerful enemies”.
Adeosun made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television programme, Inside Sources, scheduled to be aired on Friday. An excerpt of the interview was aired on Thursday as part of a news bulletin.
The former minister resigned from office in 2018 following allegations that she submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate as part of her credentials.
Speaking in the interview, Adeosun said some “powerful enemies” within the Buhari-led administration took advantage of the NYSC certificate controversy as an “opportunity to get rid of her”.
She said she had informed Buhari of the development and her intention to institute legal action against the Federal Government before resigning from the cabinet.
According to her, she could not continue to serve as a minister while simultaneously initiating legal proceedings against the Federal Government.
“I’m not confused about the fact that I had powerful enemies who I believed saw an opportunity. Let’s get rid of her,” Adeosun said.
“No one resigned in finance but I did. Why did I resign? The day I resigned I went to go and see the president. I said, ‘Mr President, I need to go but I will go to court to clear my name’.
“He said, ‘I absolutely support you. Because these names are leased for our children and grandchildren, right? They are going to inherit them’.
“And then you destroy your name because you want to stay as minister. For what?
“I sued the federal government. You can’t be suing the government and staying in the government. You can’t. You have to go. I think it is the right thing to do.”
In July 2021, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted a declaration that Adeosun could not be subjected to any penalty or forfeiture in relation to her occupation over the NYSC certificate issue.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo ruled that Adeosun had no obligation to present an NYSC certificate to be eligible to hold public office in Nigeria.
The court, however, did not make a pronouncement on the allegation of certificate forgery.
