I Resigned as Finance Minister to Protect the Office – Kemi Adeosun

By Oluwakemi Kindness

Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, says her resignation from the cabinet of late President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2018 was a principled decision taken to protect the Office of the Minister of Finance and safeguard her personal integrity.

Adeosun made the clarification on Friday while speaking on a Natuonal Television, where she addressed issues surrounding her exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

According to her, stepping aside was necessary to enable her pursue legal action to clear her name without undermining the dignity of the office she occupied.

“People kept asking why did I resign? That no one resigns as minister of finance like I did? I still think it was the right thing for me to do,” she said.

She stressed that her resignation was not an admission of guilt.

“My resignation is a matter of principle and not an admission of wrongdoing. It was a step to protect the Office of the Minister of Finance and defend my reputation. I can’t be attending local and international meetings as minister of finance, and also appearing in a court in a case of integrity and reputation.”

Adeosun added that remaining in office while suing the government would have been inappropriate.

“I knew I would need to go to court to clear my name and doing so was not compatible with being Minister of Finance representing Nigeria at the highest level.”

She disclosed that President Buhari supported her decision to seek legal redress.

“I went to see Mr. President and I said, ‘Mr. President, I need to go. I need to go to court because I have to clear my name’. Mr. President supported my decision to approach the court to clear my name through legal means.”

Emphasising the importance of personal integrity, she said:

“These names are leased from our children and our grandchildren. You don’t destroy your name because you want to stay as minister.”

In July 2021, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Adeosun was ineligible to participate in the NYSC scheme, having not been a Nigerian citizen at the time of her graduation or when she turned 30, under the 1979 Constitution then in force.

The court noted that Adeosun graduated from the University of East London in 1989 at the age of 22 and was a British citizen at the relevant time.

However, the court, presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, held that her appointment as Minister of Finance was neither illegal nor unconstitutional, even without an NYSC certificate, as the constitution did not require such documentation for ministerial appointment.

The ruling followed a suit for constitutional interpretation filed in March 2021 by the law firm of Wole Olanipekun, SAN, on Adeosun’s behalf, affirming that she only became eligible for Nigerian citizenship under a later constitution, by which time she was above the age limit for NYSC participation.