The newly appointed Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, is still undergoing the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
A Civil Society Organisation, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), made the claim in a statement on Wednesday.
HURIWA claimed that Musawa is a serving corps member, while she is still a cabinet member of President Bola Tinubu after she was sworn in on Monday.
The organisation alleged that years back, Musawa abandoned her NYSC in Ebonyi state but later showed interest in completing it.
HURIWA added that the minister was mobilised again in 2023 and got posted to a law firm in Abuja before President Tinubu picked her as a nominee.
The statement read in part: “HURIWA wondered why the correct status of Musawa wasn’t made known to the members of the public before the senate sensationally failed to screen her as it should.
“HURIWA wonders about the kind of scrutiny being conducted by the Department of State Services so much so that it wasn’t disclosed that the minister is actually a youth corper.
“She was confirmed by the senate without proper screening and sworn in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Minister of Arts.”
The rights group, therefore, asked the management of the NYSC to compel Musawa to focus on her national youth service and forfeit the ministerial appointment.
