Court Stops Graduation For Faculty of Law In Lead City University

The court of appeal, in a judgement led by a three-man panel of judges on Wednesday, overruled an earlier decision by an Oyo State High Court which declared legal the programme contrary to the rule of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Justice Chidi Uwa, who led the judgement, supported by two other justices, upheld the appeal of the NUC, declaring that the university has been operating its law programme without the required accreditation.
The Appeal Court said the University had failed to obtain and meet the requirements of the NUC and National Council of Legal Education before graduating students for the same course.
Uwa added that Lead City University had admitted students to study law in the university on May 22, 2005 whereas it got a licence to operate on June 9, 2005 describing same as totally illegal.

The lower court's judgement was based on a suit filed by a first class graduate of law in the university, Segun Alli, who accused the NUC of denying him the right to proceed to the law school after completing his degree programme in the private university.

Commenting on the lower court's ruling on Alli's suit, Uwa said that Alli lacked the locus standi to initiate the suit in the first place.

The appeal court held that the matter in contention was between NUC and the Lead City University over compliance with directives to set up a valid Law Faculty.