The Council of Legal Education of the Nigerian Law School has banned Baze University Abuja from admitting law students for five years. The ban follows accusations that the university owned by the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has repeatedly breached approved quotas. The council said that Baze University, founded by the Labour Party’s presidential running mate Yusuf Datti-Ahmed, has 347 backlogged law graduates awaiting admission. Since 2017, the university has admitted over 750 law students, contrary to its 50-student-per-session allotment that should have taken 15 years to fill. Additionally, Baze University runs a three-year law degree program for some candidates instead of the accredited five-year national benchmark curriculum.
CLE imposed the ban to enable Baze University to resolve the backlog and compliance issues. The council will conduct follow-up visits to check if remedies have been implemented before lifting the sanction. Admission bodies like JAMB have been notified to steer prospective students away from the university temporarily.
The blanket moratorium has generated criticism, despite the presence of innocent or unsuspecting students and parents. However, officials say regulatory oversight must be upheld, promising that the students’ fate would be addressed.
The Acting Secretary and Director of Administration of the Nigerian Law School, Ms. Aderonke Osho, who made this known, said, “At its Quarterly Meeting held on November 23, 2023, the Council of Legal Education (CLE) presided over by its Chairman, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, OFR considered the report of the Accreditation panel to the Faculty of Law, Baze University, Abuja.
“It emerged from the findings by the Panel led by the Director-General, Nigerian Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, that: Baze University consistently and most flagrantly had contravened its admission quota of 50 students per session as approved by the Council of Legal Education with the result that the Faculty is currently having a backlog of over 347 law students waiting to be admitted into the Nigerian Law School.
The Council of Legal Education has decided to impose a moratorium on the admission of law students to the Faculty of Law, Baze University, Abuja, immediately. The moratorium will last in the first instance for a period of 5 years and may be renewed if no satisfactory action is taken to remedy the situation.
The Council in the interest of the innocent students, parents, and guardians will use the 5-year period to find ways to deal with the backlog of law students admitted by Baze University in excess of its admission quota. Follow-up visits will be paid to the university to ascertain the extent of the measures it has taken to remedy the anomalies observed during the accreditation visit.
The National Universities Commission (NUC), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), parents, guardians, prospective applicants, and members of the public are as a result of this put on notice on the status of Baze University Abuja and its faculty of law.”