Five New Varsities Get CLE’s Approval to Admit Law Students

Five new Universities have been given the green light to commence admission of students into their Law programme, by the Council of Legal Education (CLE). A statement made available to the Press by the Council also stated that the CLE has increased the admission quota for the Tier-1 University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), from 220 to 250 students.

The statement also shows that 260 students posted a “First Class” grade in the 2024 Bar Final Examination, while 940 did not scale the hurdle.

CLE held its second quarterly meeting on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at the Council Chambers, Headquarters of the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja. 

Highlights and Resolutions from the Council of Legal Education Hybrid Meeting

During the meeting, the Council received and deliberated on a comprehensive report presented by the Director General, Nigerian Law School, and the Chairman of the Board of Studies, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, Life Bencher, on verification visits to the following Universities:

Nigerian British University, Asa-Uzuaku, Abia State.

• Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State.

• Modibbo Adama University, Yola.

• Prime University, Kuje, Abuja, and

• Margaret Lawrence University, Abuja.

Following the visits, the team expressed satisfaction with the facilities and academic structures of these Universities, and recommended their approval to commence Law programmes with a quota of 50 students at the 100 level from the 2024/2025 academic session.

The Council has also approved the results of the 2024 Bar Final Examinations, with the summary as follows:

Total number of candidates who sat for the examination: 7,134

First Class Honours: 260

Second Class Upper: 1,193

Second Class Lower: 2,638

Pass: 1,595

Conditional pass: 327

Fail: 940

Absent: 181

This translates to an overall pass rate of 84%, with 16% recorded as failures.

The Council reaffirmed its commitment to the continuous advancement of legal education, and to maintaining the high standards in the training of aspiring legal practitioners in Nigeria.