Reps probe exclusion of 5,000 NOUN law graduates

The House of Representatives has opened an investigation into the prolonged exclusion of more than 5,000 law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria from admission into the Nigerian Law School for professional training and Bar examinations.

The investigation followed a petition by the affected graduates, who said they had completed their Bachelor of Laws programmes but had been unable to proceed to the Nigerian Law School because of a regulatory dispute involving NOUN, the Council of Legal Education and the Law School.

The House Committee on Public Petitions invited NOUN and the Nigerian Law School to explain the circumstances surrounding the impasse at an investigative hearing held on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Neither institution, however, appeared before the committee.

NOUN submitted a letter explaining the absence of its Vice-Chancellor, while the Nigerian Law School, through its Director-General, Dr Olugbemisola Odusote, cited official engagements involving relevant officials and requested a fresh date for its appearance.

Representatives of the affected graduates told the committee that they should not be punished for disagreements between government institutions after completing their academic programmes.

Speaking with journalists after the hearing, the Public Relations Officer of the graduates’ association, Chibueze Obochi, said the affected graduates had pursued other avenues for resolving the matter before seeking the intervention of the National Assembly.

Obochi argued that the graduates were entitled to equal educational opportunities under Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and should not bear the consequences of disagreements between NOUN and the regulatory authorities.

“This is our position: that we should not be made victims of inter-agency rivalries. We were not part of any agreements or disagreements between NOUN and CLE and Nigerian Law School. We are Nigerian citizens and we are innocent of whatever must have transpired,” he said.

A major point of contention is a list of 1,883 NOUN law graduates submitted to the relevant authorities in 2019.

Obochi disputed the interpretation of the list as representing the university’s entire pool of law graduates, arguing that the description of the figure as graduates produced “so far” indicated that more students could subsequently become eligible.

“Every lawyer, even a layman, understands the express statement when you say ‘so far’. That means it opens a window to some persons left behind,” he said.

He also argued that the suspension of admissions into NOUN’s LLB programme in 2015 should not affect students who had already been admitted before the suspension.

“As of 2015, when the National Open University was advised to stop admissions, we had already started the programme. And every reasonable person knows that when you stop admission, it does not mean that you have chased away those who are already studying,” he said.

According to the association, the affected graduates possess matriculation numbers and other records showing when they were admitted into the university.

“We are of the opinion that justice and fairness shall prevail over this matter. And what was done to our seniors should also be extended to us. So, as we stated earlier, we have done LLB, and we are proud of the programme we did and the certification thereupon,” Obchi added.

How the dispute started

In its submission to the House committee, NOUN traced the dispute to 2015, when an accreditation team from the National Universities Commission visited the university to assess its LLB programme.

The university said that while it awaited the outcome of the accreditation exercise, the Council of Legal Education announced its position rejecting the admission of NOUN law graduates into the Nigerian Law School.

NOUN subsequently suspended further admissions into the LLB programme in 2015, saying the decision was taken to prevent the number of affected students from increasing while discussions with the regulatory authorities continued.

The university said it engaged the CLE and other stakeholders between 2015 and 2019 in an attempt to resolve the eligibility of its law graduates for professional legal training.

In 2019, NOUN formally appealed to the CLE to admit its law graduates into the Nigerian Law School and submitted a list of 1,883 graduates.

The university later discovered that 90 graduates had inadvertently been omitted from the list, bringing the number of graduates covered at the time to 1,973.

According to NOUN, the Body of Benchers subsequently considered the matter in 2020 and approved a Special Remedial Programme for the university’s law graduates, rather than direct admission into Bar Part II, which is the route applicable to graduates of other Nigerian universities.

The university later submitted another list containing 2,226 graduates who had completed their studies between 2019 and May 2022.

NOUN said the CLE rejected the subsequent submission.

According to the university, the reasons included an alleged understanding that the 2019 list represented the total number of NOUN law graduates and an allegation that the university continued admitting students into its LLB programme after the 2015 suspension.

NOUN rejected the allegation, maintaining that it stopped admitting students into the programme in 2015 and did not resume admissions thereafter.

The university explained that graduates included in the later submission were students who had been admitted before the suspension but completed their programmes at different times.

Law School seeks fresh hearing date

The Nigerian Law School also did not attend the September 16 hearing.

In its letter to the committee, Odusote acknowledged the invitation but said the institution could not appear because relevant officials were engaged in an official assignment.

The Law School apologised for its inability to attend and asked the committee to communicate another date for the hearing.

It also assured the lawmakers that it remained willing to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the committee at a rescheduled hearing.

The petition was presented to the House on July 21, 2026, by the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Akin Rotimi.

Rotimi subsequently pledged to support efforts to resolve the grievances of the affected graduates.

He stressed the need for a fair and lasting resolution, particularly for graduates who had completed their academic programmes but remained uncertain about their eligibility for professional legal training.

At the centre of the dispute is the regulatory status of NOUN’s LLB programme and whether graduates who completed their studies after the 2015 suspension are eligible for admission into the Nigerian Law School.

While NOUN maintains that it stopped admitting students in 2015 and that those who graduated afterwards had been admitted before the suspension, the university’s account of the CLE’s position indicates that the council considered the 2019 list to represent the total number of eligible NOUN law graduates and also questioned whether admissions continued after 2015.

The House committee is expected to hear from the two institutions before determining the next steps in resolving the long-running dispute.