The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned the suit filed by former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, against the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and others to Feb. 15, 2027.
Nnaji filed the suit in response to allegations of certificate forgery made against him.
Justice Hauwa Yilwa adjourned the case due to the absence of counsel for the 1st respondent.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, counsel for the ex-minister, Akintola Makinde, SAN, informed the court that the 1st respondent (Minister of Education) was not represented. Makinde also noted a pending motion to regularise the processes filed in the matter and stated that hearing notices had been served on all parties.
Chris Uche, SAN, representing the 3rd to 7th respondents, recalled that on Jan. 8, the court granted part of an earlier application to regularise their processes, while the second request remained pending. Uche requested that the court deem the relevant processes duly served.
In response,Justice Yilwa confirmed that she had granted the first request in the application but had not yet addressed the second. Uche assured the court that other outstanding issues would be handled administratively. With the consent of all parties, the judge adjourned the matter to Feb. 15, 2027, for hearing. Minister, in an ex parte motion, had sought an order granting him leave to issue prerogative writs prohibiting the university and its officials from “tampering with” or continuing to “tamper with” his academic records, among others.
In suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1909/2025, Nnaji sued the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), UN,N and Ortuanya as 1st to 4th respondents. He also joined the Registrar of UN, Ujam,m and the Senate of the university as 5th to 7th respondents, respectively.
He sought leave to issue a prerogative writ of mandamus compelling the university and its officials to release his academic transcript, and requested the Minister of Education and the NUC to use their supervisory powers to compel UNN to comply. He also sought an interim injunction restraining UNN and its officials from “tampering” with his academic records pending the determination of the substantive suit, among other reliefs.
In their preliminary objection, the 3rd to 7th defendants asked the court to strike out the suit for lack of jurisdiction. They also sought an order awarding substantial costs in favour of the 3rd, 4th, and 6th defendants.
In a nine-ground argument, they stated that the ex parte motion for leave was not filed within three months of the occurrence of the subject matter, contrary to Order 34 Rule 4(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019.
They further argued that this contravened Section 2(a) of the Public Officers Protection Act 2004, rendering the entire proceedings incompetent and depriving the court of jurisdiction.
“The substantive motion for prerogative orders was wrongly brought by motion on notice instead of an originating motion as required under Order 34 Rule 5(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019. The application is incompetent, premature, and speculative, as there was no prior request or denial of release of academic records or any evidence of interference with the applicant’s academic records before this action commenced,” they said.
They also argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain “matters concerning student academic records, examinations, results, and transcripts.” They stated that the matter does not arise from the administration or management of any agency within the exclusive jurisdiction of Section 251(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). and the applicants’ fundamental rights have not been breached. Besides, they said no reasonable cause of action was disclosed against the 3rd to 7th respondents, particularly the 4th respondent, Prof. Ortuanya, who acted solely in his official capacity as VC of UNN, among others
