The Labour Party has distanced itself from its former National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, following his legal action seeking access to the academic and service records of National Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said in a statement on Monday that Arabambi was no longer a member of the LP after being among 25 members suspended by the party’s National Executive Council in March over alleged anti-party activities. According to Asogwa, the suspension was subsequently ratified at the Labour Party’s National Convention on April 28, 2026, after which the affected individuals ceased to be members of the party.
He said the clarification became necessary following reports describing Arabambi as a Labour Party chieftain after he filed lawsuits against the West African Examinations Council, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the National Youth Service Corps seeking records relating to Obi’s credentials.
“While the Labour Party wishes to refrain from commenting on the substance or otherwise of the litigant’s case before the court, particularly as Mr Peter Obi is not a member of the Party, we wish to notify the general public that Abayomi Arabambi is not a member of the Labour Party,” Asogwa said. He added that since the party decided to suspend and subsequently expel the affected members, “no organ of the Party has sat to revisit or reverse the decision concerning the expelled members.”
The Labour Party also warned that any representation by Arabambi that he was a chieftain or representative of the party was unauthorised. “If Arabambi has presented himself to the public as a chieftain or representative of the Labour Party, the general public is hereby notified that such representation is entirely unauthorised and, prima facie, amounts to impersonation,” Asogwa said.
He added that the party’s lawyers were reviewing the matter to determine whether further legal steps should be taken, including a possible petition to law enforcement authorities. The LP’s statement came shortly after the NDC rejected the suits filed by Arabambi and challenged him to provide evidence suggesting that Obi’s academic credentials were questionable.
Arabambi filed three separate suits at the Federal High Court in Abuja against WAEC, UNN and the NYSC under the Freedom of Information Act. He is asking the court to compel the three institutions to release official records relating to certificates allegedly issued to Obi.
Arabambi, however, said he was not asking the court to determine whether certificates submitted by Obi to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2027 presidential election were genuine or forged. Instead, he said the suits were intended to obtain existing records from the institutions so that the status and particulars of the certificates could be ascertained.
