Abdul’Aziz Musa Yar’Adua, younger brother of the late President Umar Yar’Adua, is the contractor engaged by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to compile its security advisory to corps members, Peoples Gazette reports.
Yar’Adua, a retired colonel and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, registered and used Watchcon Security Company Ltd to land the contract from the nation’s paramilitary service, according to CAC filings.
He produced the controversial security protocol that recommended corps members should prepare ransom in anticipation of possible abduction before travelling on Nigerian roads.
The controversial document, titled: Security Awareness and Education Handbook for Corps Members and Staff, was produced in 2020 as the 13th revised edition for tertiary education graduates taking part in the paramilitary programme.
“When travelling in high-risk road such as Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Lokoja-Okene or Aba-Port-Harcourt road, then alert your family members, friends and colleagues in order to have someone on hand to pay off the ransom that could be demanded,” the document said on pages 58 and 59.
It also advises the corps members and NYSC staff members to “establish a personal relationship with your abductors as soon as possible.”
The protocol also directed corps members to immediately establish a personal relationship with their abductors as this may help guarantee their safety.
The NYSC issued a statement to deny the manual as fake news after it circulated on social media last week.
“Management wishes to emphatically state that the clause quoted is not embedded in NYSC Security Tips pamphlet which was put together by a highly respected retired security expert,” the NYSC had said in a statement.
The agency later admitted ownership of the document and said it was conducting an investigation, but did not reveal the name of the “respected security expert” that compiled it.
The newspaper, however, traced the owners of Watchcon Ltd credited in the NYSC document and found it belonged to Yar’Adua, who registered it with other partners in October 2011 under RC 986237.
Yar’Adua retired from the Nigerian Army in October 2010, five months after his brother died in office as President of Nigeria.
He subsequently joined politics in Katsina and has played a crucial role in consolidating power within the Yar’Adua political dynasty.
He sought Katsina governorship in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress (APC) but lost the primary election to Aminu Bello Masari. He remained in the ruling party and vowed in 2019 that the APC would remain in power for long after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
It was unclear how much Yar’Adua’s firm received for the security advisory contract, or whether it went through competitive bidding as required by federal procurement regulations.
