The University of Port Harcourt
has declined a Freedom of
Information, FOI, request for the
doctorate degree records of
President Goodluck Jonathan.
In a response to the Institute of
Human Rights and Humanitarian
Law, a Rivers State-based civil
society organization, the
university said a request for
President Jonathan’s academic
records did not fall within the
provisions of the FOI law.
“The Management of the
University has carefully
considered your request vis-a-vis
the FOI Act,” the university stated
in their letter dated 26th February,
2015, and signed by Eric Loveday
Osuo Abonemi, the institution’s
Legal Officer.
“It is my instructions to inform
you that your request does not
come within the relevant
provisions of the FOI Act for its
practicability or for the
University to provide such details
as requested.
“Details of the Ph.D Degree of
President Goodluck Jonathan in
the University of Port Harcourt
cannot therefore be made
available to you.”
The Institute of Human Rights
and Humanitarian Law had filed
an FOI request, three weeks ago,
to the university seeking relevant
details of Mr. Jonathan’s
doctorate qualifications.
The letter requested the following
information relating to the
president’s doctorate
qualification, citing the
provisions of Sections 2 and 4 of
the FOI Act, 2011:
1. The title of the president’s
doctorate dissertation
2. Year of registration as a
doctorate candidate
3. Name of his doctorate
supervisor(s)
4. Name of his external examiner
(s)
5. Comments/reports of the
external examiner of the
dissertation/thesis
6. Photocopy of the dissertation/
thesis
7. Date of graduation from the
university
The organization said it was
willing to bear any cost the
university might incur in making
photocopies of the requested
documents and for posting them.
President Jonathan was admitted into the
Department of Zoology (now renamed Animal
and Environmental Biology), University of
Port Harcourt, in 1977, where he graduated
with Second Class Honours (Upper Division).
In 1985, Mr. Jonathan obtained a Master of
Science degree in Hydrobiology and
Fisheries, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree
in Zoology 10 years later.
Both degrees were also from the University of
Port Harcourt.
Lately, Mr. Jonathan’s academic
qualifications have come under increased
scrutiny ahead of the forthcoming general
elections. Critics have accused the president
of failing to complete his doctorate
programme.
In a response to an enquiry by Punch
Newspaper in January, the university
dismissed such claims as having “neither legs
nor grounds to stand on”.
The university had also told any person or
organization seeking additional information
on Mr. Jonathan’s qualifications to contact
the school authorities.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide as an
institution that has a statutory mandate to
advance the frontiers of knowledge,” William
Wodi, the university’s Deputy Registrar
(Information), had told the newspaper.
It is unclear why the university declined to
release Mr. Jonathan’s academic
qualifications to the civil society organization
after giving that commitment.
Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos-based lawyer, said the
president’s academic records ought to be
freely available in the university and not be
“opaque or hidden”.
“The FOI is applicable to the academic
records of a public officer whose academic
records are being requested by a Nigerian
citizen or a nongovernmental organization
duly registered in Nigeria with a view to
promoting accountability and transparency in
government,” Mr. Ogunye said.
“The academic records of the president are
not the medical records of the president in
which case a medical officer can say the FOI
is exempted, or the records between a lawyer
and his client which are covered by the
confidentiality rule.”

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www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/178796-uniport-hides-jonathans-doctorate-details.html

march 28 isnt far again by 29-30 we wouldn't care any more about certificate. all man would rest.