The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has initiated steps to mobilise a category of polytechnic graduates previously affected by eligibility and documentation issues, specifically those who completed National Diploma (ND) on a part-time basis and later obtained Higher National Diploma (HND) through full-time programmes.
This development was disclosed in an official correspondence from the NYSC Directorate Headquarters in Abuja to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), highlighting a ministerial directive mandating the inclusion of such graduates in the national service scheme.
According to the letter, the NYSC had already commenced a phased mobilisation of the affected graduates during the 2026 Batch ‘A’ Stream I orientation exercise, with plans to clear the backlog in the ongoing Stream II exercise.
However, the process has encountered setbacks due to technical and administrative constraints. The NYSC revealed that several affected graduates recently lodged complaints at its Lagos State Secretariat over their institutions’ inability to upload their details on the NYSC mobilisation portal.
The institutions most affected include Yaba College of Technology and the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, which reportedly account for the highest number of impacted graduates—estimated at about 600 each. Both institutions attributed the challenge to restrictions on the NBTE portal, which have hindered the upload of eligible candidates’ data.
The NYSC expressed concern over the growing tension among affected graduates and has called on the NBTE to urgently intervene. It urged the board to address the bottlenecks preventing Corps Producing Institutions (CPIs) from successfully uploading graduate records onto the NYSC SABALM platform.
“The intervention of the NBTE is critical to resolving these issues and ensuring that eligible graduates are mobilised without further delay,” the correspondence stated.
The scheme reaffirmed its readiness to mobilise all affected graduates for national service once the outstanding issues are resolved and their documentation is successfully processed.
This move marks a significant policy shift aimed at expanding inclusivity within the NYSC framework, particularly for polytechnic graduates whose academic pathways previously limited their participation in the scheme.
Stakeholders in the education sector are expected to closely monitor the NBTE’s response, as thousands of graduates await clarity on their mobilisation status.