The rejection of Law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to be admitted into the Nigerian Law School, will soon be a thing of the past, TheNigerialawyer (TNL) had learnt.
The issue as to why NOUN graduates have been refused admission by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) was raised by the President of the NBA, Paul Usoro, SAN, at the ongoing NEC meeting in Abuja.
The President Stated that NBA has received several complaints requesting the association as a stakeholder to wade into the matter.
He called on the Chairman of Council of Legal Education asking what can be done to see that the backlog students are admitted to Law School.
Responding to the issue, the Chairman Council of Legal Education, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, said that admitting the graduates of NOUN has been an inherent issue, stating that, ab initio, the Council being conscious of the standard of education, passed a resolution that part-time, evening law programmes and open law programmes is a no case, and therefore students with such educational background cannot be admitted by the Council Of Legal Education into the Nigerian Law School.
However, he said the good news is that the incumbent Director-General of Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Ciroma has suggested that NOUN graduates be admitted into BAR PART 1 instead of BAR PART 2.
They will have to run the BAR PART 1 for one (1) Full academic calendar year as in place of 3 months which foreign students use for the BAR PART 1.
He further added that it is when a student has passed the BAR PART 1 that he or she will be admitted to do the BAR PART 2 and failing the exam, means not doing the Part 2.
Though some members of the NEC agreed with the decision of the Council of Legal Education, some disagreed saying that one year is too short for students to learn all that they need to learn to be admitted into the Law profession.
The fact still remains that the Council of Legal Education must be left to make decisions that are best for the Council and the Students.
Also, TNL gathered that this is only meant for the backlog students and not for new students as NOUN has been directed to stop admitting students to study law.
