Arabambi Seeks Court Orders Compelling Release of Official Academic Records
Labour Party chieftain Abayomi Arabambi has filed three separate suits against the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) over the academic records of Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi.
The suits, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seek orders compelling the institutions to release official records relating to certificates allegedly issued to Obi.
Arabambi brought the actions under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, alleging that the institutions failed or refused to provide information he requested concerning Obi’s academic credentials.
The suit against WAEC, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2064/2026, and the NYSC case, FHC/ABJ/CS/2063/2026, were filed on September 1, while the suit against UNN, FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026, was filed on September 9.
Arabambi stressed that he was not asking the court to determine whether the certificates Obi submitted to INEC were genuine or forged.
Rather, he said he wants access to existing official records from which the status and particulars of the certificates can be established.
In the WAEC case, he is seeking a Certified True Copy of WAEC Certificate No. SC042560, reportedly issued to Obi Gregory Onwubuase in June 1978.
For UNN, Arabambi wants access to the university’s certificate register, academic and graduation records, Senate or degree-award records and other existing documents relating to Certificate No. D000198.
In the NYSC case, he is seeking official records relating to NYSC Certificate No. 203495, reportedly issued to “Obi, Gregory Peter-Onwubuase (Mr.)” on May 1, 1986.
He also wants records showing the basis for issuing the NYSC certificate and information on how the name “Peter-Onwubuase” appears in the relevant records.
Court documents showed that WAEC rejected Arabambi’s request in an August 11, 2026 letter, citing provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Arabambi alleged that UNN and NYSC neither provided the requested information nor explained their refusal.
He is asking the court to declare the refusals unlawful and compel the institutions to respond to his requests.
Arabambi is also seeking orders requiring the institutions to identify any information they consider exempt from disclosure, the legal basis for withholding it, and to release all severable information that is not exempt.
He further urged the court to invoke Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act where it finds that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest served by withholding the information.
No date had been fixed for hearing the three suits as of the time of filing the report.