2027: LP chieftain drags WAEC, UNN, NYSC to court over Obi’s credentials

A Labour Party chieftain, Abayomi Arabambi, has instituted three separate suits at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to compel the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to release official records relating to the academic credentials of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election.

The suits, filed under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, seek access to records that Arabambi says would enable the public to establish the status and particulars of certificates associated with Obi.

Arabambi filed the action against WAEC and NYSC on September 1, 2026, while the suit against UNN was filed on September 9.

The WAEC case is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2064/2026, the NYSC case FHC/ABJ/CS/2063/2026, while the UNN action is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026.

Arabambi, through his lawyer, Anderson Asemota, told the court that he had separately approached the three institutions requesting information relating to certificates he believed were issued to Obi, but said the requests were either rejected or not answered.

Importantly, the plaintiff said he was not asking the court to determine whether Obi’s certificates were genuine or forged.

Rather, he is asking the institutions to disclose their own existing records so that the status and details of the certificates could be independently ascertained.

In the action against WAEC, Arabambi is seeking a Certified True Copy of WAEC Certificate No. SC042560, which he said was issued to Obi Gregory Onwubuase in June 1978.

Court documents cited in reports on the case show that WAEC had previously rejected his request in a letter dated August 11, 2026, relying on provisions of the Freedom of Information Act concerning exempt information.

Arabambi is asking the court to compel the examination body to release the requested record or otherwise provide the information permitted under the law.

In the case against UNN, Arabambi is seeking access to institutional records relating to Certificate No. D000198, which he said is connected to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy allegedly awarded to Obi in 1984.

The documents sought include the university’s certificate register, academic records, graduation records and Senate or degree-award records, insofar as such records exist.

Arabambi said he first wrote to the university on July 16, requesting the records under the FOI Act. According to the court documents, the request was received by the respondents on August 6.

He subsequently sent a reminder dated August 31, which he said was received on September 1.

The plaintiff alleged that, by the time he commenced the lawsuit, UNN had neither supplied the requested records nor issued a written refusal identifying the legal basis for withholding them.

The third case targets the NYSC and concerns records connected to NYSC Certificate No. 203495, which Arabambi says was issued to Obi Gregory Peter-Onwubuase on May 1, 1986.

He is also asking the court to clarify the appearance of the name “Peter-Onwubuase” in the relevant NYSC records.

The three lawsuits therefore focus not on a judicial pronouncement on the validity of Obi’s credentials, but on whether public institutions holding the relevant records should disclose them under the FOI Act.

Arabambi argued that the information sought is in the public interest, particularly because it concerns the credentials of a person seeking the country’s highest elective office.

He said his requests were intended to promote transparency and accountability concerning persons seeking public office.

He also stressed that he was not asking the institutions to create new information or documents, but merely seeking access to existing official records in their custody, possession or control.