The academic credentials of the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, are being challenged in three separate suits before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suits, filed by a Labour Party chieftain, Abayomi Arabambi, seek orders of mandamus compelling the West African Examinations Council, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the National Youth Service Corps to release official records relating to certificates allegedly issued to Obi.
Arabambi said the suits followed the alleged failure of the three institutions to provide information he requested under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
The suit against WAEC, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2064/2026, and the one against NYSC, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2063/2026, were filed on September 1, while the suit against UNN, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026, was filed on September 9.
Through his lawyers led by Anderson Asemota, Arabambi said he was not asking the court to determine whether the certificates Obi submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2027 presidential election were genuine or forged.
He said he only wanted the institutions’ official records released so that the status and details of the certificates could be established.
Arabambi said he had separately written to WAEC, UNN and NYSC requesting information on certificates he believed were issued to Obi, but that his requests were either rejected or left unanswered.
He argued that the information was in the public interest, particularly for transparency and accountability involving people seeking public office.
WAEC certificate
In the suit against WAEC, Arabambi is asking the court to compel the examination council to release a Certified True Copy of WAEC Certificate No. SC042560, stated to have been issued to Obi Gregory Onwubuase in June 1978.
WAEC reportedly rejected his request in a letter dated August 11, citing Sections 14(1)(a) and 14(2)(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information Act.
UNN records
Arabambi is also seeking an order compelling UNN to release its certificate register, academic records, graduation records, Senate and degree-award records and other official documents relating to Certificate No. D000198, where such records exist.
He said the request was not for the court to determine whether the certificate was genuine or forged.
“The applicant is not asking this court, in this proceeding, to pronounce that Certificate No. D000198 is genuine or forged,” he said.
“Rather, to ascertain what the university’s own official records disclose concerning the certificate.
The LP chieftain is further seeking access to NYSC records relating to Certificate No. 203495, stated to have been issued to “Obi, Gregory Peter-Onwubuase” on May 1, 1986.
He also wants any official record or document on which the certificate was based or issued, where such records are in the custody or control of NYSC.
Arabambi specifically requested information on how the name “Peter-Onwubuase” appears in the relevant NYSC records.
According to the court processes, UNN and NYSC neither granted the requests nor provided reasons for refusing them.
Arabambi is therefore asking the court to declare that the refusal to provide the requested information was unlawful and that his applications under the FOI Act were valid.
He is also seeking orders compelling the institutions to communicate the results of their verification of the certificates from their official records.
Where any information is considered exempt from disclosure, he wants the institutions to identify the specific information withheld and the law relied upon for the refusal, while releasing any non-exempt portions.
He is further asking the court to invoke Section 25 of the FOI Act and order disclosure where it finds that the institutions had no reasonable grounds to deny access or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the reason for withholding the information.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the three suits.
