The suit, presided over by Justice Evelyn Maha, is slated for hearing on January 27, 2026, in a case marked FHC/IB/CS/93/2025.
A law graduate of the University of Ibadan (UI) and activist, Kayode Bello, has approached the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking an order compelling the Nigerian Law School, under the Council of Legal Education, to readmit him after what he described as an unlawful and prolonged denial of his right to complete his professional legal training.
The suit, presided over by Justice Evelyn Maha, is slated for hearing on January 27, 2026, in a case marked FHC/IB/CS/93/2025.
In his originating processes and sworn affidavit before the court, Bello argued that there is nothing in the Nigerian Law School’s Code of Conduct for Students that permanently bars his readmission, particularly after the expiration of his expulsion in 2017.
He maintained that fresh facts and documents have since emerged which, according to him, fundamentally undermine the basis of his expulsion.
Bello alleged that a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Prof. Oluyemisi Bamgbose, deliberately withheld a pardon letter addressed to him, a development he said significantly influenced the circumstances leading to his expulsion from the Nigerian Law School.
He further told the court that only a file copy, not the original, of the pardon letter was eventually released to him during his Master’s programme at UI.
The applicant recalled that he was expelled from the Nigerian Law School in 2017 following complaints he raised over poor learning facilities at the Law School campus in Abuja.
He also stated that authorities of the Law School allegedly disobeyed a subsisting court order permitting him to sit for his Bar final examinations that same year.
Court documents show that all respondents have been served with the Motion on Notice, the Order granting leave to serve same, and the Hearing Notice dated December 5, 2025.
In the suit, Bello is asking the court to compel the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa; the Council of Legal Education; the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Issa Ayattou; the University of Ibadan; the Vice-Chancellor of UI, Prof. Kayode Adebowale; the Dean, Faculty of Law; and Prof. John Akintayo of the Faculty of Law to immediately respond to his August 17, 2022 request for intervention on his denied readmission.
He is also seeking an order mandating the Council of Legal Education and the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School to readmit him without further delay, having served the full term of his expulsion.
However, Bello urged the court to compel the Students’ Union of the University of Ibadan and its President to account for actions taken on his behalf regarding his Law School readmission efforts since August 2022.
The applicant further asked the court to declare that Prof. John Akintayo and Prof. Oluyemisi Bamgbose denied him fair hearing during issues surrounding his travel to Switzerland for an academic programme while he was an undergraduate at UI.
According to him, this information constitutes fresh and material evidence relating to his expulsion.
Bello is also claiming N100 million in general damages against all respondents jointly for alleged denial of justice, psychological trauma, loss of time, hardship, and prolonged stress arising from what he described as deliberate delays preventing him from completing his Law School programme since 2017.
Justice Maha had earlier ordered the reopening of Bello’s Master’s student portal at the University of Ibadan.
However, Bello disclosed that he has now filed Form 48, notifying the respondents of the consequences of continued disobedience of the court order, to enable him complete registration and graduation at the institution.