By Saminu Ibrahim
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has directed the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and the Council of Legal Education (CLE) to submit additional documents over the admission crisis involving more than 4,000 NOUN law graduates.
The committee, chaired by Hon. Chief Kwamoti Laori Bitrus, gave the directive on Wednesday after hearing submissions from the affected graduates, NOUN and the Council of Legal Education on the circumstances surrounding the rejection of the graduates’ applications to the Nigerian Law School.
SINL Nigeria Online reports that the committee specifically directed NOUN to provide a comprehensive list of students 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 submit documents relating to its earlier approval for 1,883 NOUN law graduates to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, as well as records of their performance.
The petitioners, led by the President of Law Graduates of NOUN, Dr Adeniyi Oladele, and represented by their Secretary, Mr Chibueze Kenneth Obochi, told the committee that more than 4,000 graduates had been left in uncertainty after completing their law degrees.
They appealed to the committee to intervene and allow them to proceed to the Nigerian Law School for the mandatory professional training and, upon successful completion, be called to the Nigerian Bar.
The graduates argued 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.
They also pointed out that previous NOUN law graduates had been admitted into the Nigerian Law School, completed their training and been called to the Bar.
Appearing before the committee, NOUN Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Shehu Adamu, said the university complied with the directive to stop fresh admissions but maintained that many of the affected graduates were already in the academic pipeline when the directive was issued.
Adamu said the university received a letter from the Council of Legal Education dated November 5, 2019, permitting 1,883 students to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, after which NOUN was directed to stop fresh admissions into its 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 before they subsequently graduated.
The university acknowledged that it might not have adequately communicated the number of students already in the pipeline to the Council, expressing regret over the omission.
However, the Director-General of the Council of Legal Education, Dr Gbemisola Odusote, 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.
Odusote explained that accreditation by the National Universities Commission was separate from accreditation by the Council on Legal Education, stressing that NUC approval alone did not automatically qualify law graduates for professional legal training.
According to her, the approval granted to the 1,883 NOUN graduates was a one-off arrangement and did not constitute a general approval for subsequent graduates.
The Council said the decision was based partly on its position regarding the mode of legal education and the requirements for admission into the Nigerian Law School.
Members of the committee, however, questioned why students who had already enrolled before the restriction on fresh admissions should be affected.
They also sought clarification on the basis for approving 1,883 graduates while excluding thousands of other students.
The lawmakers requested evidence showing when the affected students were admitted, noting that NOUN registration numbers could help establish their respective years of admission.
The committee further questioned the Council on the academic performance of the 1,883 graduates previously admitted to the Nigerian Law School and requested relevant records.
Sequel to the submissions, the committee adjourned further consideration of the petition pending the submission and examination of the requested documents by NOUN and the Council of Legal Education.
