— Say They Were Admitted, Paid Fees, Sat Exams And Completed JAMB Regularisation
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More than 200 students of the University of Calabar have sued the university, its Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and President Bola Tinubu over their removal from the Faculty of Law and transfer back to their former faculties and departments.
The students, numbering 214, filed the suit on 12 August at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking N5 billion in damages.
The claimants argue that their admission letters, payment of prescribed fees, course registration, examinations and JAMB regularisation created “valid, binding, and subsisting legal contracts” between them and the university.
They further argue that the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Offiong Offiong, cannot invalidate “the official acts, admissions, JAMB regularisation approvals, and institutional commitments made by his predecessor-in-office to the detriment of the Claimants.”
The dispute arose this month after the university directed the 214 second-year Law students to return to the departments into which they had originally been admitted. The decision followed a meeting between the university management, the Faculty of Law, the affected students and the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria, UNICAL chapter.
The Vice-Chancellor said that of the 435 students in the second year of the Bachelor of Laws programme, only 221 had been officially admitted into Law, while the other 214 had entered the faculty from other departments.
The university explained that the affected students would not be eligible for the Nigerian Law School if they remained in Law under their current admission status. It temporarily locked their portals to facilitate the transfer back to their original departments, while offering to refund their 2025/2026 school fees or provide free tuition for the 2026/2027 session in those departments.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the second claimant, Ogana Lawrence Lukpata, who said he was “personally affected by the administrative actions,” stated that the university admitted him and 213 others into the Faculty of Law between the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic sessions.
After admission, he said, the students accepted the offers, “paid acceptance fees, completed the required screening and paid school fees for almost three academic years.” They subsequently registered for Law courses, “attended lectures, submitted continuous assessment assignments and sat for examinations conducted under the supervision of the university.”
According to the affidavit, the students passed their examinations and progressed from 100 Level to 200 Level, “with some reaching 300 Level.”
He said the university later instructed them to undergo JAMB regularisation, which they did after paying the required processing fees.
Problems arose, the affidavit says, after Professor Offiong, a professor of Chemistry, became Vice-Chancellor and “refused to sign” or complete the initial regularisation documents processed under his predecessor, Professor Florence Obi, a professor of special education.
Professor Obi served as Vice-Chancellor from December 2020 and handed over on 1 December 2025 after completing her five-year tenure.
The students said the new Vice-Chancellor claimed the forms did not bear his name, and that they consequently had to repeat the JAMB regularisation process and pay the required fees again.
The affidavit states that on 5 August, at a meeting convened in the Senate Chamber with representatives of the Faculty of Law and the affected students, the Vice-Chancellor announced that “214 of the 435 students in the LL.B II class would be removed from the Faculty of Law,” and directed them to return to their former departments.
The university then locked the students’ academic result portals, cutting off their access to learning portals, academic transcripts and ongoing university activities.
“The Respondents gave no prior query, notice of allegation, administrative panel hearing, or opportunity for any of the Claimants to defend their status before taking this extreme measure,” the affidavit reads.
It states that none of the 214 students had been investigated, indicted or found guilty of examination malpractice, breach of university regulations or any act amounting to gross misconduct.
The students questioned why officials who handled the admissions, fee payments and other administrative processes had not been investigated or sanctioned.
“Instead of holding its staff accountable for administrative lapses, the university management singled out innocent students who acted in good faith and spent years studying law courses,” they said in the affidavit.
Through the suit, signed by a team of lawyers led by Okpi Bernard, the students raised several questions for determination.
They ask whether the Vice-Chancellor can “arbitrarily and unilaterally” invalidate official acts, admissions and JAMB regularisation approvals made under his predecessor.
They ask whether the university can, under Section 18 of the University of Calabar Act, demote, eject or transfer students, or lock their academic portals, without first investigating them or finding them guilty of gross misconduct or academic dishonesty.
They also ask the court to resolve whether the President, as the appointing authority for the Vice-Chancellor, has a statutory responsibility to intervene and stop the university authorities from enforcing what the students describe as unlawful and oppressive decisions affecting their academic status and fundamental rights.
The students seek a declaration that their admission letters, acceptance of the offers, payment of fees, course registrations, examinations and compliance with JAMB regularisation requirements created valid contracts with the university.
They urge the court to hold that the Vice-Chancellor is bound by “the doctrine of executive continuity and administrative estoppel” and cannot nullify official acts, admission approvals and academic standing granted under his predecessor.
They seek a declaration that their removal from the Faculty of Law and the locking of their academic portals violated Section 18 of the University of Calabar Act and their constitutional right to fair hearing.
They ask for a permanent injunction restraining the university, its Vice-Chancellor and Registrar from “demoting, transferring, ejecting, restricting portal access, denying learning opportunities” or taking other adverse action against them as Law students, and for an order directing the President to exercise supervisory powers over the university’s management.
Alongside the substantive suit, the students filed a motion on notice seeking temporary protection while the suit is pending.
The application seeks an interlocutory injunction restraining the university, its Vice-Chancellor and Registrar from “enforcing, implementing, or continuing to give effect” to the 5 August directive.
It also asks the court to order the university to “forthwith restore, unblock, and maintain full, uninterrupted access” to the academic result portals, course registration portals and learning platforms of all the claimants, and seeks a further injunction restraining the respondents from taking any adverse academic or administrative action affecting their studies.
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