A Labour Party chieftain, Abayomi Arabambi, has filed separate suits against the West African Examinations Council, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the National Youth Service Corps over official records relating to the credentials of Nigerian Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi.
The suits were filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
Arabambi is asking the court to compel the three institutions to release existing records relating to certificates allegedly issued to Obi.
The WAEC case is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2064/2026, while the NYSC action is FHC/ABJ/CS/2063/2026. Both were filed on September 1, 2026.
The suit against UNN, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2144/2026, was filed on September 9.
Arabambi’s lawyer, Anderson Asemota, filed the cases on his behalf.
The plaintiff stressed that he was not asking the court to determine whether Obi’s certificates were genuine or forged.
Instead, he wants the institutions to disclose their existing official records from which the status and particulars of the certificates can be established.
According to the suits, Arabambi separately wrote to WAEC, UNN and NYSC seeking information about records he believed were held by the institutions.
He alleged that he had either not received the requested information or had not been given adequate reasons for its withholding.
In the case 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.
He said WAEC rejected his request in a letter dated August 11, citing provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
For UNN, Arabambi wants access to the university’s certificate register, academic records, graduation records, Senate or degree-award records and other existing documents relating to Certificate No. D000198.
The certificate is said to be connected with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy allegedly awarded to Obi in 1984.
Arabambi also wants the university to communicate the outcome of any verification of the certificate based on its official records.
In the NYSC case, he is seeking records relating to Certificate No. 203495, which he said was issued on May 1, 1986, to “Obi, Gregory Peter-Onwubuase (Mr.).”
He is also asking for documents upon which the certificate was based or issued, where such records remain in the custody of NYSC.
Another request concerns the manner in which the name “Peter-Onwubuase” appears in the relevant NYSC records.
Arabambi wants the court to declare that failure by the respondents to provide the requested information amounted to a refusal or deemed refusal under the Freedom of Information Act.
He is also seeking an order directing the institutions to identify any information they consider exempt from disclosure and specify the statutory provision relied upon.
He wants all non-exempt portions of the records disclosed.
The Labour Party chieftain further asked the court to invoke Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act where it finds that the institutions are not authorised to deny access, have no reasonable grounds for doing so or where public interest favours disclosure.
The controversy over variations in names allegedly appearing on documents attributed to Obi has been raised previously by Arabambi.
However, the filing of the suits does not establish that Obi’s certificates are forged or invalid. The cases are primarily seeking access to institutional records that could clarify the status and particulars of the documents.
No hearing date had been fixed for the three suits as of the time of filing the report.
