The 2024 Batch B2 corps members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) had their passing out ceremony on August 6, but Ushie Rita Uguamaye, better known as Raye, a Lagos State corps member who went viral for voicing the hardship under President Bola Tinubu in March, was exempted.
After releasing her first video in March, Uguamaye raised the alarm in another video that NYSC officials were threatening her because of the viral clip. She was also summoned by her LGI to Eti-Osa Local Government Area, the LGA of her Primary Place of Assignment (PPA).
When she arrived in Eti-Osa with Omoyele Sowore, a rights activist, and her legal representatives, the official who summoned her was absent.
She was later called to a disciplinary panel at the NYSC orientation camp in Iyana Ipaja. Subsequently, NYSC told her that her service year had been extended by two months.
After the reports of Uguamaye’s extension hit the headlines, NYSC denied it. However, Segun Ojienoh, one of the corps member’s legal representatives, told FIJ that the scheme was lying through its teeth, as he had it on good authority that her service year had indeed been extended.
READ MORE: Corps Member Raye’s Lawyer Insists NYSC ‘Are Lying Through Their Teeth’
On August 7, while B2 2024 corps members were given their discharge certificates, Uguamaye was exempted. She announced the development on Instagram and stated that she had been given a two-month extension.
After this update went viral, NYSC released a statement defending its action on Sunday.
The scheme claimed Uguamaye’s extension was a sanction because she failed to show up for the April monthly biometric clearance.
READ MORE: Hostile NYSC Withholds Corps Member Raye’s Discharge Certificate
“Rita is among the 131 Corps Members whose Certificates of National Service (CNS), were withheld for valid disciplinary reasons. Specifically, Rita’s service year has been extended by two months for failing to attend the April 2025 biometrics clearance, a decision that aligns with the NYSC Bye-Laws,” the NYSC statement read.
“It is important to note that this extension is a standard procedure and not unique to her case, and the principle of equal treatment was only applied in this case.”
READ MORE: NYSC Extends Corps Member’s Service After She Complained About Economic Crisis, Criticised Tinubu
NYSC Lied, Bye-Laws Says Nothing of Extension As Punishment For Missing Monthly Clearance
No part of the NYSC Bye-Laws (Revised 2011) mentions service extension as punishment for missing monthly biometric clearance. The only statutory penalty is that corps members absent during their clearance would forfeit their monthly allowance.
FIJ gathered from corps members that the punishment for missing clearance could be decided by the NYSC disciplinary panel, and this too, would be dependent on the local government inspector (LGI) of the affected corps member.
Corps Members Have Missed Their Final Clearance And Got Their NYSC Certificate Without Extension
A corps member who passed out with the 2024 Batch A2 told FIJ that they were absent for their March biometric clearance, yet got their certificate without offering a bribe or getting a penalty.
Apart from the 12 months of clearance that corps members have to do, there is also a final clearance mandatory for those close to passing out from NYSC. This ex-corps member said they missed their final monthly clearance but it did not hinder them from getting their discharge certificate.
“The day I went for the last month’s clearance, I was sick, so I could not do it, then I went back home. I could not stay and I could not tell the LGI. There were a lot of people. So, if I had told them that I needed to go to the front to meet her, they would just think that I was faking it,” the ex-corps member explained.
“I went back home, then I went back on the day of my final clearance. My final clearance was just the following week. On the Monday of the following week, I went, and then they said they could not clear me for final clearance, that I missed one month, and then there was supposed to be a panel case.
“I went back on the Thursday of that week to meet the LGI with my documents but she said I should come back on Friday. I went back on Friday and I got cleared. There was no fuss, there was nothing.”
To also show that Uguamaye’s extension was a calculated punishment, she had once revealed that she was present at her local government in April, but despite having the valid documents necessary for the exercise, Veronica Abela, the Eti-Osa LGI, refused to attend to her.
“Despite the fact that I told the officer that what I submitted is what is usually needed, including a clearance letter from my place of primary assignment, she did not listen. Instead, she told me to get out of her office, and that was what happened,” Uguamaye explained.
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