The Faculty of Law at Baze University in Abuja has not been shut down by the Council of Legal Education (CLE), contrary to reports doing the rounds that the CLE had stopped the university from continuing to run the law programme for allegedly overshooting its admission quota in recent years.
Rather, the CLE, according to an official, has only suspended fresh admissions into the faculty for the next five years until after the backlog of oversubscribed students quota is was cleared.
The official told THE CONCLAVE: “Baze University is a law-abiding institution and, therefore, very respectful of all regulatory authorities. The University holds these authorities in very high esteem. To that extent, the University is complying with the instructions of the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
“Contrary to ongoing misrepresentations, what the CLE directive means is that the University cannot admit law students until after five years, and not that the University law Faculty is shut down. Not at all!
“As we speak, The Nigerian Law School is gracious enough to have opened its portal for the backlog of Baze Law graduates to start applying to the Law School, just so we can start clearing the 347 number students still to go to the School. This has brought relief to the students and you can be rest assured that the backlog will be cleared in no time.
“To be sure, the University boasts of some of the best and most qualified, most experienced Law scholars and teachers in the country. Some of these, you will agree with me, are Professor Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), Professor Kathleen Okafor (SAN), and Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, PhD (Harvard). There are many more. Come and see!
“The University does not like joining issues with authorities, which is why I am speaking to you anonymously, otherwise I would have explained to you, as well, that we combined semesters in public universities into shorter trimesters in Baze, and ultimately enabling students to finish on time. It was an innovation, but the authorities have, however, kicked against this and we have also complied, and reverted to the regular semesters.
“And on admitting more than allowed quota, again, this is neither here nor there, but we abide by the conclusion of the respected CLE, while hoping we will have time to address these issues better in the future.
“Baze University was set up as a British Style university and still remains so, going by our high ethical standards, a commitment to quality learning in a decidedly conducive environment, in line with the vision of the founder and pro-chancellor, Distinguished Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
” There are so many areas where we are the first and the best in the country and even in Africa, but we need not belabour issues here, but the one thing you can take away is that our students are in safe hands, towards a better future.”
Recall that the CLE had, in a report on November 25, 2023, imposed a five-year moratorium on law admissions at the Baze University for reportedly consistently violating approved quotas.
The Nigerian Law School had stated that findings had shown that the university was carrying over 347 backlogged law graduates awaiting admission.
The CLE had stated that since 2017, the university had admitted over 750 law students, exceeding its 50 students per session allotment that would have taken 15 years to fill.
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