Is it time for finance minister to resign?

It’s been 72 hours since Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun was accused of

Pulse has repeatedly placed calls to the smartphone of Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde who is Mrs. Adeosun’s spokesperson, without any form of response returning our way. Our text messages to Akintunde’s mobile have also gone unanswered.

There always comes that time in the life of an individual when silence is no longer golden. That time has indeed arrived for Mrs. Adeosun. She has to speak up because silence and carrying on as though this entire allegation can be swept or wished away with time, isn’t going to do her or the administration she serves, any good.

The Premium Times exclusive on Mrs. Adeosun has left the ball firmly in the minister’s court. The allegations are as grave as they are disturbing. Did Mrs. Adeosun forge her NYSC exemption certificate? Did she allow the national assembly to blackmail her on account of her forged certificate?

Mrs. Adeosun has largely impressed on the job. Her office oversaw Nigeria's swim out of recession and she's handled her brief in Abuja with poise, elegance and charisma. She also communicates effectively; which is striking that she has suddenly lost her voice and the queens English that comes with it, since last weekend.

The laws on working in a government establishment without an NYSC certification or an authentic exemption certificate are pretty clear. We can debate how the NYSC has lost its original purpose and why it should be scrapped, some other time. But if Mrs. Adeosun forged her exemption certificate as alleged by the online newspaper and allowed lawmakers to blackmail her to the tune of N10billion as Premium Times alleged, then she should walk.

And Mrs. Adeosun needs to start talking because the longer she goes quiet, the more damage all of this does to her reputation and name. And in the event that she is guilty of forgery and perjury as alleged, Mrs. Adeosun should honorably throw in the towel and spare an entire nation the agony of discussing her in the social media or debating her fate in pubs.

Until she denies the allegation with irrefutable evidence, Mrs. Adeosun’s position is for now untenable. There is no such thing as big or small crime. A crime is a crime before the law.

Resignation isn’t something Nigerian public officials love to do, but if found guilty, Mrs. Adeosun should waste no time waving her office and position goodbye. Big falls sometimes come with the territory.