Abayomi Arabambi, a chieftain of Labour Party (LP), has filed separate lawsuits against the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), seeking access to records relating to certificates allegedly issued to Peter Obi.
Gatekeepers News reports that the suits were filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja following what Arabambi described as the institutions’ failure to provide information he requested about Obi’s academic records.
According to court documents obtained by TheCable, the suits against WAEC and NYSC were filed on September 1, while the case against UNN was filed on September 9. The cases were instituted through a team of lawyers led by Anderson Asemota.
Arabambi said he had separately approached the three institutions to obtain information concerning certificates he believed were issued to Obi. He said WAEC rejected his request, while UNN and NYSC neither granted the requests nor provided reasons for their refusal.
The LP chieftain stressed that his legal action was not aimed at 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.
“The applicant is not asking this court, in this proceeding, to pronounce that Certificate No. D000198 is genuine or forged,” Arabambi said.
He added: “Rather, to ascertain what the university’s own official records disclose concerning the certificate.”
In the suit against WAEC, Arabambi is seeking a certified true copy of certificate number SC042560, allegedly issued to Obi Gregory Onwubuase in June 1978.
He is also asking the court to compel UNN to release its certificate register, academic and graduation records, Senate or degree-award records and other official documents relating to certificate number D000198, where such records exist.
For the NYSC, Arabambi wants records relating to certificate number 203495, allegedly issued to “Obi, Gregory Peter-Onwubuase (Mr.)” on May 1, 1986. He is also seeking documents showing the basis on which the certificate was issued and information on how the name “Peter-Onwubuase” appears in the corps’ records.
The suits also raise questions over variations in Obi’s name across documents submitted to INEC and educational institutions.
Arabambi is asking the court to order the institutions to disclose any information that is not legally exempt from disclosure. Where any portion is withheld, he wants the respondents to identify the information withheld and state the specific legal provision relied upon.
He is also asking the court to invoke Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act if it finds that the institutions had no reasonable grounds for refusing his requests or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in withholding the information.
The cases are yet to be assigned to a judge.
