A Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Abayomi Arabambi, has sued the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), over the alleged refusal to release details of the academic records of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Arabambi, in a fresh suit, said he requested a Certified True Copy (CTC) of Obi’s certificate, numbered D000198, for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, reportedly issued in 1984, pursuant to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, 2011.
He said the university failed to provide the requested documents.
In the originating motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026 and filed by his lawyer, Anderson Asemota, at the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 9, Arabambi said several letters had been written to the university concerning the request.
The court documents, made available on Saturday, showed that Arabambi, a former factional spokesperson for the LP, named the Vice-Chancellor of UNN and the university as the first and second respondents, respectively.
He is seeking an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to perform their statutory duty under the FoI Act by determining and responding to his request dated July 16, 2026, in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
According to Arabambi’s affidavit setting out the facts of the case, he requested, by a letter dated July 16, 2026, a CTC of Certificate No. D000198, stated to have been issued by UNN to Gregory Peter Onwubuasi Obi for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1984.
“The applicant also requested a Certified True Copy of the certificate, academic record or other official records upon which the said degree was predicated.
“The said request was duly delivered to and received by the respondents on 6th August, 2026.
“The applicant expressly made the request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 and stated the public-interest and accountability basis for the request.
“The respondents failed and/or neglected to provide the requested information within the period prescribed by the Act,” he said.
Arabambi said the respondents did not communicate to him a written notice of refusal identifying the specific provision of the Act relied upon in denying him access to the information.
“The applicant consequently sent a reminder letter dated 31st August, 2026, reiterating the original request and again demanding the requested records.
“The reminder letter was delivered to and received by the respondents on 1st September, 2026, as evidenced by the delivery receipt,” he said.
In the affidavit deposed to by Chuku Maudlyn, a litigation secretary in the law firm of Messrs Neplus Ultra Attorneys, Arabambi averred that the delivery receipt identified the receiver as the Vice-Chancellor and the destination as UNN.
“As at the commencement of this action, the respondents have neither supplied the requested records nor issued a lawful written notice of refusal,” he said.
The applicant is seeking 19 reliefs from the court.
Among other things, he prayed the court to declare that his written request pursuant to the FoI Act constitutes a valid request for information within the contemplation of the Act.
He also sought an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to furnish him with a CTC of Certificate No. D000198, if the certificate exists in their custody, possession or control.
Arabambi further sought an order compelling the respondents to furnish him with CTCs of existing official academic and institutional records relating to the degree and certificate, where such records exist and are within their custody or control.
The documents sought include relevant academic records, graduation or degree-award records, certificate-register entries, Senate or academic approval and award records, and any other existing official records upon which the degree and/or certificate was based, among other reliefs.
Giving grounds for the application, Arabambi submitted that he has a statutory right of access to information in the custody of a public institution.
According to him, the respondents are subject to the provisions of the FoI Act.
He said the requested information concerns a certificate expressly represented to have been issued by UNN, making the university the institution whose official records are directly relevant to his request.
Arabambi said Section 4 of the Act imposes a statutory duty on the respondents to respond within the prescribed period and that they had failed to comply with that obligation.
“The respondents did not communicate a lawful refusal identifying any applicable exemption.
“The failure therefore constitutes a refusal and/or deemed refusal under the Act,” he concluded.
The applicant’s complaint is what he described as multiple variations of Obi’s name across documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and educational authorities.
The case is yet to be assigned to a judge.
