The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the University of Calabar to grant 214 law students unrestricted access to lectures, the students’ portal and other academic facilities pending the determination of a suit the students have brought against the institution.
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Hon. Justice J. O. Abdulmalik made the interlocutory order in a suit filed by Mr. Chidi Glad and 213 others against the University of Calabar and three others, directing the university authorities to maintain the status quo and to restore full academic access to the affected students immediately, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
The order follows a dispute over the admission status of 214 students of the university’s Faculty of Law.
The 214 students were represented by Mr. Bernard Okpi, appearing with Mr. Confidence Mbang, Mr. Bennedict Otu, Mr. Udoh Ekananem and Mr. Kenneth Ibobo.
The first, second and third defendants were represented by Mr. Jonas Abuo and Mrs. Akiba-Eyo Veronica.
During proceedings, counsel to the defendants, Abuo, informed the court that although the defendants had been served with the originating processes, they had been unable to file a response because the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar had travelled out of the country.
He told the court he had filed only a conditional memorandum of appearance, and applied for an adjournment to enable the defendants to respond to the suit.
The application for an adjournment was opposed by the students’ counsel, Okpi, who argued that the defendants had been served on 24 August 2026 and had already exhausted the statutory thirty-day period for filing a response.
He urged the court to proceed with the hearing of the matter.
In the alternative, he asked that any adjournment be granted on terms: that the defendants pay two million naira in costs, and that the claimants be allowed to move their motion for an interlocutory injunction.
After considering the arguments and perusing the motion papers, Justice Abdulmalik delivered a bench ruling granting the interlocutory orders the students sought.
The court directed the university authorities to maintain the status quo and to restore the affected students’ access to lectures, the students’ portal and other academic amenities pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The suit followed an announcement by the university in August that 214 of its 435 second-year LL.B students would be removed from the Faculty of Law and returned to the departments to which they had originally been admitted.
The university said that only 221 of the 435 second-year students had been officially admitted into its Law programme, and that the remaining 214 had entered the Faculty of Law from other departments.
According to the university, the affected students would not be eligible for admission to the Nigerian Law School if they continued studying Law under their existing admission status.
The students dispute that position. They say the institution admitted them into the Law programme, accepted their fees, registered them for Law courses, and allowed them to sit examinations and progress through the programme.
They also say the university subsequently directed them to undergo Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board regularisation, which they completed after paying the required fees.
They have sued the University of Calabar, its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Offiong Offiong, the Registrar, and President Bola Tinubu. Among other reliefs, they seek five billion naira in damages and ask the court to protect their continued studies in the Law programme.
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