A chieftain of the Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi, has dragged the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja over records relating to the academic credentials of Peter Obi.
Obi is the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 general election.
Arabambi filed three separate suits seeking court orders compelling the institutions to release official records concerning certificates allegedly issued to the former Anambra State governor.
The suits were filed under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, with Arabambi alleging that the institutions either failed or refused to provide information requested about Obi’s academic records.
The suit against WAEC is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2064/2026 and was filed on September 1, 2026.
The action against NYSC, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2063/2026, was also filed on September 1, while the suit against UNN, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026, was filed on September 9.
The cases were instituted by Arabambi through his lawyer, Anderson Asemota.
The Labour Party chieftain stressed that he was not asking the court to determine whether the certificates Obi submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 presidential election were genuine or forged.
Rather, he wants access to the institutions’ existing official records to establish what they contain about the certificates.
He said the purpose was to obtain “disclosure of the respondents’ official records from which the status and particulars of the certificate may be ascertained”.
In the suit against WAEC, Arabambi is asking the court to compel the examination body to release a Certified True Copy of WAEC Certificate No. SC042560.
The certificate was reportedly issued to Obi Gregory Onwubuase in June 1978.
Arabambi said he was not asking WAEC to create any new document or information, but wanted access to existing records within its custody, possession or control.
Court documents showed that WAEC rejected his request in a letter dated August 11, 2026.
The examination body reportedly relied on Sections 14(1)(a), 14(2)(a) and 14(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act in refusing the request.
For the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Arabambi is seeking access to the institution’s existing records concerning Certificate No. D000198.
The records requested include the university’s certificate register, academic records, graduation records and Senate or degree-award records.
He also wants other relevant official documents relating to the certificate, insofar as such records exist.
Arabambi maintained that he was not asking the court to determine whether the certificate was authentic.
Instead, he wants to establish what UNN’s own records show about the certificate and its particulars.
The third suit concerns NYSC Certificate No. 203495, reportedly issued to “Obi, Gregory Peter-Onwubuase (Mr.)” on May 1, 1986.
Arabambi wants access to official NYSC records relating to the certificate.
He is also seeking any existing certificate, document or other material upon which the NYSC certificate was based or issued.
Another aspect of the request concerns the manner in which the name “Peter-Onwubuase” appears in the relevant NYSC records.
Arabambi wants the organisation to provide information that could clarify the details contained in its official records.
Arabambi said he separately wrote to WAEC, UNN and NYSC requesting information about certificates he believed the institutions issued to Obi.
According to him, while WAEC formally rejected his request, UNN and NYSC allegedly neither supplied the requested information nor communicated reasons for withholding it.
He is therefore asking the Federal High Court to declare that the failure or refusal to provide the information amounted to a violation of his rights under the Freedom of Information Act.
The plaintiff also wants the court to hold that his requests constituted valid applications for information under the law.
He argued that the failure to respond amounted to “a refusal and/or deemed refusal under the Act”.
Among the reliefs sought, Arabambi wants an order of mandamus compelling UNN to communicate the result of its verification of Certificate No. D000198 based on its existing official records.
This would include whether the certificate and its particulars appear in the university’s records.
He is seeking a similar order against NYSC regarding Certificate No. 203495.
The plaintiff also wants the institutions to identify any portions of the requested information they believe are exempt from disclosure and specify the statutory provisions relied upon in withholding such information.
He further wants all severable portions of information that are not exempt to be disclosed.
Arabambi argued that the information sought was in the public interest, particularly because it concerns a person seeking the highest political office in the country.
He said the requests were made “for purposes of transparency and accountability concerning persons seeking public office.”
He also stressed that he was not asking the institutions to create documents or information that do not exist.
Instead, he wants access to existing official records within their custody, possession or control.
READ MORE: Chimamanda Adichie Says She Does Not Want To Return To Nigeria After Son’s Death
Arabambi has further asked the court to invoke Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act where applicable.
He wants the court to order disclosure if it finds that the respondents are not authorised to deny access, have no reasonable grounds for refusing the information, or where the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest served by withholding the records.
The suits come as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with candidates and political parties facing increasing scrutiny over their backgrounds and qualifications.
However, the court has yet to determine whether the institutions will be compelled to release the records being sought.
As of the time of filing the report, no date had been fixed for hearing the three suits.