The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Simon Ortuanya, and other officials have challenged a suit filed by former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji.

In a notice of preliminary objection before Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja, UNN and its officials, named as defendants, urged the court to strike out the suit as statute-barred.

They also argued that the plaintiff’s motion on notice for prerogative writs is incompetent and wrongly commenced.
Other defendants include the Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the UNN Registrar, former acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Oguenjiofor Ujam, and the Senate of the university.

Nnaji filed the suit, marked ABJ/CS/1909/2025, before leaving office, following allegations of certificate forgery involving him.

At Monday’s mention of the case, Nnaji’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that he was only served with the notice of preliminary objection minutes before proceedings began.

He noted that the defendants planned to file a counter-affidavit the following day and requested a definite hearing date.

Justice Yilwa adjourned the case to January 13, 2026, and ordered that hearing notices be issued to all parties who were not in court. The Education Minister and NUC were absent.

In their objection, the third to seventh defendants argued that the suit was improperly filed because the motion ex-parte for leave was not brought within three months of the alleged incident, 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, rendering the proceedings incompetent.

They contended that the substantive motion for prerogative orders was wrongly filed by motion on notice instead of an originating motion as required under Order 34 Rule 5(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules.

The defendants also argued that the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction over matters concerning student academic records, examinations, results, and transcripts, which fall outside the court’s exclusive jurisdiction under Section 251(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

They added that internal remedies at the university had not been exhausted, and no fundamental rights of the plaintiff were breached.

They insisted that no reasonable cause of action exists against the third to seventh respondents, particularly Prof. Ortuanya, who acted solely in his official capacity as UNN Vice-Chancellor.