The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Bauchi State, Yakubu Adamu, is reportedly using proxies — among them his self-declared spokesman, Daure David, who is listed as a witness in the case — to sue WikkiTimes for N1 billion in damages over a report that questioned his PhD, even as his most recent candidacy documents filed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) no longer include the qualification.
Two graduates of the International University Bamenda (IUB), Cameroon, Dr Adejo Apeh and Alhaji Kawu Gana, filed the suit at the Bauchi State High Court of Justice against WikkiTimes Media and Publishing Ltd, its publisher, Haruna Mohammed Salisu, and the WikkiTimes Media Foundation, over a 13th June, 2026 report that questioned IUB’s authority to award PhDs.
The claimants, alongside the International University-Bamenda (IUB) Alumni Nigerian Chapter, are demanding N1 billion in damages and N20 million as cost of the action, according to court documents dated 8th July and issued by the Bauchi High Court registry on 11th August, 2026.
The suit marked BA/302/26 was served on WikkiTimes on August 25. They also want the court to order the defendants to publish an apology and retraction, remove the report from their platforms, and grant a perpetual injunction restraining further publication of similar material.
What WikkiTimes Reported
The suit followed a WikkiTimes report titled “Bauchi Governorship Candidate Yakubu Adamu Holds a PhD From a University That Says It Awards None,” which examined Adamu’s PhD and IUB’s jurisdiction to award it. The report cited Cameroon’s regulator for private higher education, which said private institutions could not train students at doctorate level, and an April 2026 statement from Cameroon’s Ministry of Higher Education describing some doctoral programmes in the country as unrecognised.
It also examined IUB’s alumni roster, which it said was dominated by Nigerians, many drawn from Bauchi’s public sector, and questioned the academic records of several listed graduates, including the plaintiffs. Dr Apeh appeared in the same document as an Examination Officer at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, an IUB doctorate holder, and a discussant on a separate master’s degree defence.
The report further examined a paper purportedly written by Adamu and Gana, whom it identified as his supervisor, and found the authorship had changed between versions, while portions resembled an earlier study on Pakistan’s software development industry.
Follow-Up Findings
In further reporting, the National Universities Commission (NUC) told WikkiTimes that IUB does not appear on its list of approved Cameroonian universities, and that verifying foreign certificates falls outside its statutory mandate. Daure David, who introduced himself on Albarka Radio as Adamu’s spokesman, had defended the PhD by citing IUB’s partnerships with the University of Wisconsin and a chartered body in London. Both institutions later told WikkiTimes they had no record of any such relationship.
WikkiTimes also found that Cardinal Stritch University, another cited partner, closed in 2023, while American Central University, also listed as a partner, is an unaccredited institution linked by US regulators to a diploma mill.
Adamu’s latest INEC filing, reviewed by WikkiTimes in late July, lists only his First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate and an MBA, with no mention of the PhD.
Plaintiffs Reject Allegations
The plaintiffs denied the allegations and maintained IUB legitimately awarded their PhDs. In their statement of claim, they described IUB as an internationally recognised private university running postgraduate programmes, and cited correspondence with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education, alongside a February 2016 TETFund letter referencing a verification visit to IUB, in support of the institution’s status.
They said other Nigerians, including TETFund-sponsored students, had also obtained PhDs from IUB, and that the publication, amplified by Sahara Reporters, damaged their reputations among students, employers and the public. They described themselves as respected lecturers with over two decades of experience. The NUC, however, had earlier told WikkiTimes that IUB was not on its list of approved universities in Cameroon.
The plaintiffs said they gave the defendants seven days to retract the report before filing suit. Reliefs sought include a declaration that the publication was malicious, libellous and defamatory; an apology and retraction in three newspapers, including one Nigerian and two international titles; removal of the report from WikkiTimes’ platforms; and a perpetual injunction against further publication of similar material.
Pattern Of Suits
WikkiTimes had faced at least nine lawsuits linked to its investigative reporting, including one filed by MinXin Mineral Separation Nigeria Limited and two individuals over a report on illegal mining and terrorism financing in Niger State, in which a Bauchi State High Court awarded N105 million in damages against the newsroom in December 2025, a judgment WikkiTimes has since appealed.
