By Kayode Araba
Thus, the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions Wednesday directed the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and the Council of Legal Education to submit additional records to enable it determine the fate of more than 4,000 NOUN law graduates seeking admission into the Nigerian Law School.
Committee, chaired by Hon. Chief Kwamoti Laori Bitrus, gave the directive after hearing submissions from the affected graduates, NOUN and the Council of Legal Education over the circumstances surrounding the rejection of the graduates’ applications by Council of Legal Education.
However, the committee particularly requested NOUN to provide a comprehensive list of students who were already enrolled in its law programme before the directive stopping fresh admissions, including their registration numbers and other relevant records.
It also asked the Council of Legal Education to provide documents relating to its earlier approval for 1,883 NOUN law graduates to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, as well as available records on their performance.
Moreso, the committee’s action followed claims by the affected graduates that they were admitted before NOUN was directed to stop fresh admissions into its law programme and should therefore not be treated as students admitted after the restriction the petitioners, led by the President of Law Graduates of NOUN, Dr. Adeniyi O. Oladele, mni, and represented by Mr. Chibueze Kenneth Obochi, the secretary said more than 4,000 graduates had been left in uncertainty after completing their law degrees.
Also, they appealed to the committee to intervene and allow them to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, undergo the required professional training and, where successful, be called to the Nigerian Bar.
The petitioners argued that previous NOUN law graduates had been admitted into the Nigerian Law School, completed their training and been called to Bar.
Professor Shehu Usman Adamu, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of NOUN, said the university complied with the directive to stop new admissions but maintained that many of the affected graduates were already in the academic pipeline when the directive was issued.
Adamu said NOUN received a letter from the Council on Legal Education on November 5, 2019, permitting 1,883 students to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, after which the university was directed to stop fresh admissions into the law programme he explained that some students had already completed most of their courses, while others had only a semester or a few courses remaining and subsequently graduated.
NOUN acknowledged that it might not have adequately communicated the number of students already in the pipeline to the Council and expressed regret over the omission.
Dr. Olugbemisola T. Odusote, Director General of the Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law School, maintained that NOUN was not among the universities accredited by the Council to offer law for the purpose of admission into the Nigerian Law School.
In addition, the committee also questioned the Council on the academic performance of the 1,883 graduates who had previously proceeded to the Nigerian Law School and requested relevant records.
Following the submissions, the committee adjourned further consideration of the petition pending the submission and examination of the requested documents from both parties.
