Authorities of the six of the eight universities banned by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) from admitting students through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have confirmed the sanction.
In separate interviews with LEADERSHIP Weekend, top officials of the affected schools, said their institutions were penalised by CLE for starting the programmes before the regulator’s approval.
They explained that the penalty was for only the 2025/2026 academic session, adding that the measure did not affect students already undertaking law courses in their schools.
JAMB had recently listed the universities affected by the CLE’s sanction as Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Kwara State; Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State; Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State; Western Delta University, Oghara, Delta State; and Taraba State University, Jalingo, Taraba State.
Others are Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Cross River State; Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State; and Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State.
In the case of the Nigeria Police Academy, the ban is for two years.
At the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, the authorities said JAMB’s decision was as a result of the decision of the Council for Legal Education (CLE) to sanction KWASU for commencing the law programme in 2018 with only the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The school’s acting director, University Relations, Dr Saeedat Aliyu, said KWASU has full accreditation from both the NUC and CLE to run two undergraduate law programmes: Common Law; and Common and Islamic Law.
Aliyu said, “The one-year ban does not in any way affect students currently running their programmes in the University’s Faculty of Law. Kwara State University holds all regulatory institutions in very high regard and will comply with the sanctions imposed by CLE by not offering admission into the two law programmes in the coming 2025/2026 admission session.
“Prospective candidates into these programmes may apply to other equally excellent programmes offered by KWASU as all programmes in the institution have all the required accreditations,” she said.
Also, the management of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, have confirmed the suspension of its law programme for one academic session by the CLE.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Elom Iyke Ubochu, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the institution has NUC’s full accreditation status.
He said all professional bodies regulating such programmes were expected to approve and accredit such courses before take-off.
Ubochu said, “In the case of LL.B programme of the university, the Council of Legal Education is the professional body that regulates law programmes in Nigerian universities.
“The Council visited AE-FUNAI on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, for Resource Verification of the law programme, after which they were impressed with both the physical facilities and material resources of the faculty, and thus approved the programme.
“So, we can categorically state that the law programme of our university is approved by the Council of Legal Education.
“However, the council was not happy that the university had commenced the running of the programme before their visit. They noted that though the programme has both the approval and accreditation of the NUC, yet the professional body in charge of the programme should have also given their approval before the programme will commence. It was based on this that the council suspended admission into the programme for one academic year only (2025/2026 session)
“AE-FUNAI under the leadership of Prof. Sunday Elom is a serious-minded university with all its programmes, either approved or accredited by the relevant government and professional bodies.
“We want to assure the general public, especially our students and their parents, that the university is in good standing as far as approval and accreditation of academic programmes are concerned.
In Nasarawa State, the authorities of the Bingham University, Karu through the Registrar, Mr. Daburi Mishal, declined to comment on the development, stating that it was needless.
However, a senior management staff in the institution told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the issue raised by JAMB had been on for about four years.
He said the ban on the affected schools not to admit students into law programmes for the 2025/2026 session was a punishment for the violation of the CLE’s rules to serve as a deterrent to other institutions.
He said the development did not amount to stoppage of law programmes in the affected schools as being bandied.
The source said when the anomaly was discovered, the council summoned the institutions that were in violation collectively and informed them that they would be prevented from admitting students into the programme for one year.
“For us, if we are advertising for admission into our progammes for the session, we will not include law in compliance with the directive. Our law programme is running, the development did not affect students who are already in the school,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor VC Arthur Jarvis University, Dr. Joseph Edet, has admitted that his school is among the eight universities JAMB would not admit freshers to pursue law programmes for the year 2025/ 2026.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent in Calabar, Cross River State, Edet said the management of the institution was aware of the suspension of the eight universities, including Arthur university, from admitting fresh candidates to pursue Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) programme for year 2025/2026.
“While the information is accurate, we would like to clarify that Arthur Jarvis University holds full accreditation for its Law programme. The suspension is as result of a penalty imposed on us for initiating the programme prior to obtaining the necessary approval from the Council of Legal Education, rather than an issue of quality or compliance.
“We have since rectified this matter and the university is fully compliant with all relevant regulations.
A statement signed by the Acting Register of the institution, Lady Mary Effiom Dian-Abasi, dated January 30, 2025, explained that the suspension only affected admissions for the 2025/2026 academic session.
Similarly, the management of Redeemer’s University Ede, Osun State said it was aware of the decision of JAMB and CLE not to process admission into Bachelor of Law (LL.B) programme for the institution for 2024/2025 academic season.
The institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Tunji Adeleke, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the development was due to communication gap between the school and CLE.
At Western Delta University (WDU), Oghara, owned by a former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, a source said the ban may not be a surprise to the management which has been battling with accreditation of the course for the past two years.
A student leader in the university, Simeon Okpokorbor, said the institution needs to upscale its teaching staff as required by the visiting accreditation panel.