The forum of the State Chairmen of the apex Youth body in Nigeria, the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), has refuted a publication made by Ben Jerry on Wednesday in defense of the award given to Alhaji Yahaya Bello by some members of the NYCN, and described him as an Impostor.
In a statement released to the media on Friday, by the Chairman of the forum, Comrade Abdulsalam Quadri Olusegun, Ben Jerry is not known to the forum. According to Abdulsalam, “the only known and authentic Chairman of NYCN, Kogi State Chapter, is Comrade Usman Ogohi Samuel whose tenure will expire in 2025.”
Abdulsalam further stated that Amb. Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo has never been suspended by the National Executive Council (NEC) of NYCN as a vote of confidence was recently passed on him by the NEC and the members of the National Management Committee of NYCN.
He said, “At the recently concluded National Management Committee Meeting, a vote of confidence was passed on Amb. Sukubo led NEC, by the Forum of the State Chairmen and the Representatives of the affiliate Voluntary Youth Organizations (VYOs) who were present in the meeting”.
Comrade Abdulsalam disclosed, in the released statement, that “the award of the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH (GCNY) is solely reserved for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as clearly stipulated in the Article 10, Section 5 of the 2018 NYCN Constitution as amended”, and not for Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
The statement read: “The attention of the State Chairmen’s Forum of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has been drawn to a misleading publication, signed by one Ben Jerry from Kogi State, claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Kogi State Chapter of NYCN.
“It is important that I, as the Chairman of the State Chairmen’s Forum, set the records straight so as to avoid the unsuspecting public being misled by impostors.
1.) “The person who signed the misleading publication, Ben Jerry, is not known to us in the State Chairmen’s Forum of NYCN. He is an Impostor and should be brought to book.
“The only known and authentic Chairman of NYCN, Kogi State Chapter, is Comrade Usman Ogohi Samuel whose tenure will expire in 2025. As it were, Comrade Usman Ogohi Samuel is the current Welfare Officer of the NYCN Chairmen’s Forum.
2.) “Amb. Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo remains the only President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and has never been suspended by the National Executive Council (NEC) of NYCN, who recently held their NEC meeting in Kaduna on the 3rd of February 2024, a day preceding the recently concluded National Management Committee Meeting.
“At the recently concluded National Management Committee Meeting, a vote of confidence was passed on Amb. Sukubo led NEC, by the Forum of the State Chairmen and the Representatives of the affiliate Voluntary Youth Organizations (VYOs) who were present in the meeting.
3.) “We are not disputing with Kogi State Youth, as to whether their immediate past Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, impacted on their lives or not. It is a glaring reality that the ex-Governor was Youth friendly. However, this does not necessitate to confer on him the award of the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH (GCNY) by some money-loving Youth from both Kogi State and outside the State.
“Kogi State Youth can only confer on him the award of the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE KOGI YOUTH, which can be conferred on any current serving Governor of the state, as the award of the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH (GCNY) is solely reserved for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as clearly stipulated in the Article 10, Section 5 of the 2018 NYCN Constitution as amended.
“It is also good to note that, the NEC of NYCN has disassociated itself from that award given by some money-loving young persons, in collaboration with a few deviant NEC members who have been recently expelled from NYCN by the National Management Committee.
“Alhaji Yahaya Bello is known to the NYCN, at the national level, as the DOYEN OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH, a prestigious award for his Youth-inclusivity during his tenure in office, and not the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH.
“The Forum of the State Chairmen of NYCN hereby informs private institutions, the security agencies, government parastatals and the general public not to have any dealings with Impostors parading themselves as NYCN Executives, both at the state and the national levels. Kindly dismiss their misleading narratives and misinforming publications. The NYCN family recognizes only one NYCN President and he is Amb. Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo, while His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the GRAND COMMANDER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH (GCNY).”