The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 elections, Peter Obi demands INEC to publish certificates of all candidates seeking Nigerians to elect them as Presidents in the 2027 general election.
He is not asking for anything extraordinary. He is asking INEC to do what it is supposed to do which is to verify and publish the academic credentials and NYSC certificates of every person asking Nigerians to make them president.
This is a single request and a transparency demand. However, the All Progressive Party (APC), whose candidate’s academic credentials have been disputed in court since 2022, has reason to be uncomfortable as Peter Obi demands INEC to publish certificates ahead of the 2027 general election.
Peter Obi Demand Is the Most Strategic Political Move of the Campaign So Far
On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, the statement issued as Peter Obi demands INEC to publish certificates is that after completing his own INEC nomination form the day before. he said Section E, Question 1 of the form asks: ‘Have you ever been adjudged a lunatic or been declared a person of unsound mind?’ and Section E, Question 6 asks: ‘Have you ever presented a forged certificate to INEC?’ Meanwhile, both require only a yes or no answer.
So out of curiosity, he then publicly asked: ‘Why shouldn’t INEC, in the interest of ensuring that our leaders are exemplary in following the rules and to strengthen public confidence in our electoral process, publish the academic certificates and credentials submitted by every candidate seeking elective office?’
However, this is framed as a broad transparency push which applies to all candidates including President Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar, and others. This is not a targeted attack, though it directly revives scrutiny on past certificate controversies.
The demand puts the APC on the defensive because of longstanding controversies around President Tinubu’s credentials like the Chicago State University-related issues from 2023 court cases, where questions were raised about submitted documents despite court rulings upholding his eligibility.
Why This Isn’t Really About a Form. It’s About Certificates Nigerians Have Been Fighting Over for Years
Obi argued that INEC has a pattern of failing to scrutinise candidate credentials before elections and even when forgery complaints arise afterward, this allows courts to dismiss them as mere pre-election matters rather than treating certificate forgery as the serious criminal offence it is.
For instance, there was a recorded case of Uche Nnaji submitting a forged certificate in early October, 2025. The investigation found that Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, had submitted forged university and NYSC certificates to President Tinubu, the Senate, and other government offices.
This even led to a confirmation from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, that they never issued Nnaji any certificate. There are a lot of similar cases of certificate forgery in the political system of Nigeria.
Final Thoughts as Peter Obi Demands INEC to Publish Certificates
Peter Obi demands INEC to publish certificates the same week the NDC was fighting its own battle for legitimacy. The Federal High Court in Lokoja had voided the party’s registration days earlier, before the NDC’s national leader, Seriake Dickson, confirmed that Obi’s name had been re-uploaded to the INEC candidate portal after an appeal.
As of this writing, there’s no confirmed statement from APC or INEC specifically addressing the issue as Peter Obi demands INEC to publish certificates.
However, the demand arrives directly on top of the unresolved Tinubu certificate litigation, which is why it has been widely read as aimed squarely at the ruling party rather than at candidates in general.
Do you think INEC should be legally required to publish every candidate’s academic certificates before an election, or is this asking too much? Tell us what you think below.
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