The Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) has instituted a suit against the federal government and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) at the Federal High Court in Ibadan, challenging the legality of the council’s textbook ranking framework.
The suit, marked FHC/IB/CS/117/26, names the Minister of Education and the Attorney-General of the Federation as co-defendants alongside NERDC.
At issue is whether NERDC possesses the statutory power to require publishers to resubmit textbooks that have already been assessed, approved and certified, to a fresh ranking exercise as a precondition for their continued use, distribution, procurement or sale in Nigerian schools.
The publishers are also contesting the compulsory fee attached to the ranking exercise, and are questioning the legal standing of regulations issued under the NERDC Act without presidential assent or publication in the Federal Gazette, both of which they argue are statutory requirements.
Recall that BusinessDay had earlier reported that the federal government unveiled the National Textbook Ranking System in April 2026, targeting textbooks used across primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools.
