Grace Adeleke
Two hundred and fourteen students of the University of Calabar have dragged the institution, its Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and President Bola Tinubu before the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding N5bn in damages over their removal from the Faculty of Law.
The students are challenging the decision of the university management directing them to return to the departments where they were originally admitted, after they had spent up to almost three academic sessions studying Law.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1825/2026, filed on August 12, 2026, the students are seeking, among other reliefs, an order restraining the university from blocking their student portals or taking any action capable of disrupting their status as Law students.
They are also demanding N5bn as general damages for alleged mental distress and financial losses arising from the university’s decision.
The students, through their lawyer, Bernard Okpi, urged the court to declare that their admission letters, acceptance of the offers, payment of fees, course registration, attendance at lectures and participation in examinations constituted valid contractual relationships between them and the university.
They further want the court to declare that the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Offiong Offiong, cannot invalidate official acts and admissions carried out under his predecessor, Prof. Florence Obi, to their detriment.
The case has been assigned to Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, although no hearing date had been fixed as of the time of filing the suit.
In an affidavit filed in support of the case, the second claimant, Ogana Lukpata, said the affected students were admitted into the Faculty of Law during the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic sessions.
He said the students accepted their admission offers, paid acceptance and school fees, completed screening, registered for Law courses, attended lectures and sat for examinations organised by the university.
According to him, the students passed their examinations and progressed from 100 Level to 200 Level, while some had reached 300 Level before the controversy erupted.
Lukpata said the university subsequently directed the students to undergo regularisation with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, which they did after paying the required fees.
He said the crisis began on August 5 when the university directed 214 second-year Law students to return to the departments where they were initially admitted.
According to him, the decision followed concerns over the regularisation documents processed under the administration of the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, who handed over to Offiong on December 1, 2025, after completing her five-year tenure.
Lukpata alleged that during a meeting involving the university management, Faculty of Law, affected students and the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria, UNICAL chapter, Offiong informed the students that only 221 of the 435 second-year LL.B students were officially admitted into the Law programme.
He said the remaining 214 students were subsequently ordered out of the faculty and directed to return to their former departments.
The claimant further alleged that the university deactivated and locked the affected students’ portals, denying them access to their academic results, transcripts, learning platforms and other university activities.
He said the students were also informed that they could not proceed to the Nigerian Law School under their existing admission status.
The university, according to the affidavit, offered to either refund the affected students’ 2025/2026 school fees or allow them to enjoy free tuition for the 2026/2027 academic session if they returned to their original departments.
Lukpata, however, alleged that the university’s action was taken without giving the affected students any prior query, notice of allegations, administrative hearing or opportunity to defend their admission status.
He also claimed that none of the students had been investigated or found guilty of examination malpractice, breach of university regulations or any other form of gross misconduct.
The students questioned why they should bear the consequences of alleged administrative lapses involving university officials who processed their admissions, collected their fees and supervised their academic activities.
The claimants argued that they had acted in good faith throughout the admission and academic processes and should not be punished for alleged irregularities attributable to the institution.
They are asking the court to protect their admission and academic status and prevent the university from taking further steps that could jeopardise their education and professional ambition of becoming lawyers.
The defendants named in the suit are the University of Calabar, the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and President Bola Tinubu.
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