Three claimants have filed a ₦1 billion lawsuit against WikkiTimes and its publisher over an investigative report questioning the authenticity of the PhD attributed to the Allied Peoples Movement governorship candidate in Bauchi State, Yakubu Adamu, and the authority of the Cameroonian institution said to have awarded the degree.
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The suit, marked BA/302/26, was instituted at the Bauchi State High Court by Dr Adejo Apeh, Alhaji Kawu Gana and the International University-Bamenda Alumni Nigerian Chapter against WikkiTimes Media and Publishing Ltd, its publisher, Haruna Mohammed Salisu, and the WikkiTimes Media Foundation.
Court documents are dated July 8, 2026 and were reportedly issued by the Bauchi State High Court registry on August 11. The defendants were said to have been served with the action on August 25.
The claimants are seeking ₦1 billion in damages as well as ₦20 million as cost of the action over a June 13, 2026 publication titled, “Bauchi Governorship Candidate Yakubu Adamu Holds a PhD From a University That Says It Awards None.”
They are also asking the court to compel the defendants to retract the publication and publish an apology, remove the report from their platforms and grant a perpetual injunction restraining them from publishing similar material in the future.
Daure David, who has publicly identified himself as Adamu’s spokesman, is reportedly listed as a witness in the action.
The litigation followed an investigation by WikkiTimes into Adamu’s claimed doctorate from the International University Bamenda, Cameroon, and questions surrounding the institution’s authority to award doctoral degrees.
In the disputed report, WikkiTimes cited information attributed to Cameroon’s regulator for private higher education to the effect that private higher institutions could not train students at doctorate level. The publication also referred to an April 2026 statement by Cameroon’s Ministry of Higher Education concerning allegedly unrecognised doctoral programmes.
Those findings and the conclusions drawn from them are now among matters expected to come under judicial scrutiny in the Bauchi court.
WikkiTimes also examined an alumni list associated with the institution and reported that Nigerians constituted a significant proportion of those listed, including persons connected with the Bauchi public sector.
The publication raised questions about the academic records of some persons on the list, including Apeh and Gana, who have now approached the court.
According to the report, Apeh appeared in documentation as an Examination Officer at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, an IUB doctorate holder and a discussant during a separate master’s degree defence.
WikkiTimes also examined a research paper purportedly authored by Adamu and Gana, whom the publication identified as Adamu’s supervisor. It alleged that the authorship differed between versions of the paper and that portions appeared similar to an earlier study relating to Pakistan’s software development industry.
These assertions remain claims contained in the disputed publication and have not been established by the court.
As part of its investigation, WikkiTimes said it contacted the National Universities Commission, which reportedly stated that IUB did not appear on its list of approved Cameroonian universities.
The NUC was, however, also reported to have clarified that verification of foreign academic certificates does not fall within its statutory mandate.
Adamu’s spokesman, David, had reportedly defended the doctorate during an appearance on Albarka Radio by referring to alleged partnerships between IUB and institutions including the University of Wisconsin and a chartered organisation in London.
WikkiTimes subsequently reported that institutions it contacted said they had no record of such relationships.
The publication also examined other institutions reportedly presented as partners of IUB, including Cardinal Stritch University, which closed in 2023, and American Central University, which WikkiTimes described as unaccredited and said had been linked by United States regulators to a diploma mill.
Another issue highlighted by the publication was the apparent omission of the PhD from Adamu’s more recent candidacy documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The omission prompted further questions about the qualification, although the pending suit centres on the claims made by WikkiTimes and the alleged consequences of its publication.
The filing of the suit does not amount to a judicial determination on the authenticity or otherwise of Adamu’s doctorate, nor does it establish the truth or falsity of the allegations contained in the investigative report.
The claimants will be required to prove their case before the Bauchi State High Court, while WikkiTimes and the other defendants will have the opportunity to file their defence and substantiate the basis of the disputed publication.
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