A chieftain of the Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi, has dragged the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, to court over the alleged refusal to release details of the academic record of the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi.
In a suit, Arabambi stated that he had requested a certified true copy, CTC, of Obi’s certificate number D000198 in respect of a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy issued in 1984 in line with the Freedom of Information Act, but the institution turned down his demand.
The originating motion filed by his lawyer, Anderson Asemota, on September 9 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Arabambi disclosed that letters had been written to the university.
In the court documents made available on Saturday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the applicant, a former factional spokesperson for the Labour Party, named the VC and UNN as 1st and 2nd respondents.
He is demanding an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to perform their statutory duty under the FoI Act, 2011, by determining and responding to his request dated July 16 in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
“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.
According to him, the respondents did not communicate to him a written notice of refusal identifying the specific provision of the Act relied upon for refusing access.
