Former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has explained that her resignation from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet in September 2018 was a principled decision taken to protect the Office of the Minister of Finance and allow her to clear her name through legal means.
Adeosun made the clarification on Friday while appearing on Channels Television’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, where she addressed lingering questions surrounding her exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
She said her decision to step aside was widely misunderstood but insisted it was the right course of action, stressing that it was not an admission of wrongdoing.
“People kept asking why I resigned, because no one resigns as minister of finance like I did. But it was the right thing to do,” she said. “My resignation was a matter of principle, not guilt. It was to protect the Office of the Minister of Finance and defend my reputation.”
According to her, remaining in office while pursuing a court case over issues of integrity would have been inappropriate.
“I couldn’t be attending local and international meetings as minister of finance and at the same time be appearing in court in a case about my reputation,” she said, adding that suing the government while serving as a minister would have created a conflict.
Adeosun disclosed that she personally informed President Buhari of her decision to resign in order to seek legal redress.
“I told Mr President that I needed to go to court to clear my name. He supported my decision,” she said. “You don’t destroy your name because you want to remain minister. These names are leased from our children and grandchildren.”
In July 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Adeosun was ineligible for the NYSC scheme, holding that under the 1979 Constitution, which was in force at the time of her graduation, she was not a Nigerian citizen when she graduated or when she turned 30.
The court noted that Adeosun graduated from the University of East London in 1989 at the age of 22 and that the constitution in force at the time did not recognise dual citizenship.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo, who delivered the judgment, ruled that Adeosun was not required to present an NYSC certificate or any other certificate to be appointed a minister, adding that her appointment was neither illegal nor unconstitutional.
The court further held that her Nigerian citizenship reverted under a later constitution, by which time she was already above 30 and therefore ineligible to participate in the NYSC scheme, which is reserved for Nigerians within the stipulated age bracket.
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