NBA, Council for Legal Education Berates Senate Over Creating Additional Law Schools

The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Council for Legal Education and some Senators on Monday vehemently berated the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly over attempts to compel the Federal Government to create additional six law schools.

Their actions followed moves by the Senate to amend the Legal Education Consolidation Act 2004, to give room for increased law schools across the country.

At a Public hearing at the behest of the Senate Committee on Judiciary headed by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senators Ike Ekweremadu (PDP Enugu West) and Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West) joined voices with legal professional bodies asking the lawmakers to desist from considering the Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC Kogi West) sponsored Bill.

Commenting on the Bill titled “Legal Education (Consolidated etc, Amendment) Bill 2021,” Senator Ekweremadu warned against politicizing legal education saying “establishment of new campuses or law schools should be left at the discretion of Council for Legal Education as empowered by the Act that set it up in 1962”.

His comment was corroborated by the National President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata (SAN), who opined that the move was unnecessary as the existing six are grossly underfunded before the intervention of Rivers State Government with a well-equipped campus in Port Harcourt.

“With required infrastructure, the existing law schools across the country are enough to accommodate thousands of law students graduating from the various Universities.

“The Council for Legal Education is the institution empowered by law to set up a new campus on the basis of need assessment and not political considerations driving the move for the establishment of additional six across the six geo-political zones.

“Besides, resources of the Federal government which are wearing out, cannot help in putting in place such campuses let alone, sustaining them.

“What is required from the Senate and by extension the National Assembly, is to by way of Appropriation, team up with the executive for adequate funding of the existing law schools”, he said.

According to the Chairman of the Council for Legal Education, Emeka Ngige, “the council is 100% opposed to it.”

He disclosed that the council’s stance followed the deplorable condition of most of the existing law schools due to gross underfunding.

He cited the deplorable condition in which students at the Yenagoa law campus are studying, saying that it “is worse than what prisoners in Ikoyi Prison are experiencing.”

He told the lawmakers that they will shed tears if they visit some of the existing campuses and see the deplorable conditions in which students and lecturers are living.

” The move by the Senate through this bill is a more or less subtle usurpation of the functions of the Council for Legal Education.

“Any need for the establishment of a new law school campus, are by law, be routed through the Council for Legal Education as exemplified by the Rivers Model “, he stressed.

Earlier the Chairman of the Committee Senator Opeyemi Bamidele who spoke in favour of the bill explained that it seeks to amend the extant Act in order to make provision for an increase in the number of the Nigerian Law School Campuses from the current Six (6) to Twelve (12).

Other Senators who spoke in favour of the bill are, Senator Abiodun Olujimi ( PDP Ekiti South), Kashim Shettima (APC Borno Central) etc, argued for the establishment of the proposed law schools for accessibility of legal education by concerned knowledge seekers.

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