The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, has commenced an inquiry into the exclusion of some law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) from mobilisation to the Nigerian Law School, despite their completion of the university’s law programme.
The affected graduates, who appeared before the committee, appealed for the intervention of the House, saying the rejection of their names for mobilisation had left them uncertain about their professional future after several years of legal education.
Presenting the petition, a representative of the graduates, Dr. Adeniyi O. Oladele, said the affected persons approached NOUN after graduation to have their names submitted for mobilisation to the Nigerian Law School but were informed that the list containing their names had been rejected.
“Upon graduation from National Open University as a backlog of law graduates of the same school, we approached the university for mobilisation to be given admission into the Nigerian Law School. We were informed that the list containing our names was rejected,” Oladele told the committee.
He said repeated efforts to obtain an explanation for the rejection failed, leaving the graduates in prolonged uncertainty.
“We spent a lot of years in pain and confusion, yet no answer to the reason for our rejection was given to us,” he said.
The petitioners argued that their situation required urgent clarification, particularly because graduates of NOUN had previously been mobilised to the Nigerian Law School, completed their professional training, passed the requisite examinations and were subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar.
According to them, the existence of NOUN graduates who had successfully gone through the Nigerian Law School and were now practicing as lawyers raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the exclusion of those whose mobilisation had been rejected.
The petitioners acknowledged the regulatory responsibilities of the Council for Legal Education (CLE) in relation to professional legal education and admission to the Nigerian Law School, but urged the committee to investigate the circumstances behind the rejection of their names and help facilitate a resolution.
Professor Shio Usman Ademo, responding on behalf of NOUN, confirmed that the university had received the petition and submitted its response to the issues raised.
“We received the petition and we’ve filed our response,” Ademo told the committee.
He explained that NOUN received a letter from the Council for Legal Education on November 5, 2019, permitting 1,888 students of the university to proceed to the Nigerian Law School.
According to him, the Council subsequently directed the university to stop admitting new students into its law programme pending the resolution of certain regulatory issues.
“The university agreed and stopped admitting new law students. However, even if we don’t admit new ones, Mr. Chairman, we still have students in the pipeline,” he said.
The committee subsequently sought clarification on the number of law students who were already enrolled and active when the directive was issued.
Ademo said NOUN had more than 500,000 students across its programmes at the time, while more than 5,000 law students were active when the directive to halt fresh admissions was issued.
The committee directed the university representative to submit the list of students affected by the situation.
When asked whether he had the list available, Ademo replied: “Yes, I have the CD here, with the list.”
The committee thereafter directed him to submit the list in soft copy for examination.
Lawmakers also questioned the university representative on the academic performance and progression of NOUN law students who had previously proceeded to the Nigerian Law School.
On whether NOUN students had sat for Nigerian Law School examinations, Ademo said they had participated in the examinations and recorded successful performances.
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