The University of Nigeria, Nsuka (UNN), its Vice-Chancellor Prof. Simon Ortuanya, and others have faulted a suit filed by a former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji.
In a notice of preliminary objection, UNN and its officials named as defendants in the suit now before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja, want the court to strike out the action for being statute-barred.
They also wanted the court to strike out the Motion on Notice for prerogative writs filed by the plaintiff on the grounds that it is incompetent and wrongly commenced.
Defendants in the suit are the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), UNN, Ortuanya, the Registrar of UNN; a former acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oguenjiofor Ujam, and the Senate of the institution.
Nnaji filed the suit marked: ABJ/CS/1909/2025 before his exit from office, following allegations of certificate forgery involving him.
At the mention of the case on Monday, Nnaji’s lawyer Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that counsel for the 3rd to 7th defendants, Prisca Udoka (SAN), served on him a notice of preliminary objection a few minutes before the commencement of proceedings.
Olanipekun noted that the case was slated for hearing. He said he was ready, but added that Udoka has informed him that she would be filing a counter affidavit.
He said: “Shortly before my noble lord sat, my learner friend came to whisper to us that they would be filing their counter affidavit to the substantive application tomorrow.
“Before then, we were just served with a notice of preliminary this morning. We want a date for definite hearing. We want to plead to my lord,” Olanipekun said.
Justice Yilwa then adjourned the case till January 13, 2026 for hearing.
She also ordered that hearing notices be issued to parties, who were not in court.
The Minister of Education and the NUC were not represented at Monday’s sitting.
In their objection, the 3rd to 7th defendants faulted the manner the suit was commenced, arguing that the plaintiff’s motion ex-parte for leave was not filed within three three months of the occurrence of the subject matter.
They argued that this was contrary to Order 34 Rule 4(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and Section 2 (a) of the Public Officers Protection Act 2004, which rendered the entire proceedings incompetent and rob this 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 34Rule 5 (1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.
“The application is incompetent, premature, speculative there being no prior request or denial of release of academic records or any evidence of interference with the applicant’s academic records prior to the commencement of this action,” they said.
The defendants also argued that the FHC lacked jurisdiction to entertain “matters concerning student academic records, examinations, results and transcript, which are not proceedings arising from the administration or management of any agency within the exclusive jurisdiction in Section 251(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and where the internal remedy has not been exhausted and the Applicants’ fundamental rights has not been breached.”
The contended that no reasonable cause of action was disclosed against the third to seventh respondents, particularly the fourth respondent, Prof. Ortuanya, who the claimed, acted solely in his official capacity as the VC of the UNN.