Law Students Petition NUC Over Edo AG’s Professorship

A group known as the Concerned Law Students of the Faculty of Law, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, has petitioned the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council of Legal Education over the professorial title conferred on the Edo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru (SAN).

In the petition, signed by Comrade K. Akanbi and dated 7 December 2025, the students alleged that Otaru may have influenced the university authorities to obtain the title.

Describing the conferment as “a great academic fraud,” they called for a thorough investigation.

According to the petition, “Mr Otaru is a full-time private legal practitioner in Ilorin, Kwara State, who obtained his PhD in Law two years ago from a private university in Ogun State. He has neither taught nor examined postgraduate law students anywhere in Nigeria to qualify him for an appointment as an Associate Professor (Reader), let alone a Professor of Law. For this reason, we request an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged conferment of this professorial status on Mr Roland Otaru, and that those responsible be held accountable.”

The group also threatened to embark on a week-long protest by mid-January 2026 if the matter is not investigated, adding: “As law students, we have decided to speak out because our lecturers who know the truth are afraid of shaking tables.”

When contacted, Otaru dismissed the allegations, suggesting they may be part of a deliberate attempt to tarnish his growing reputation. He maintained that his professorship was duly approved by the university’s Senate.

“It is very funny. The Senate of the university conferred the title on me. I have the letter to that effect. On that day, I was not the only one, there were about four of us. It was an approval from the Senate, and I delivered the lecture on 9 December 2024.

“I hold a PhD, I have two Master’s degrees, and I belong to five or six professional fellowships. I have been a SAN for 20 years. What are they talking about? Someone may have engineered this because of my rising profile.

“It is not a fake award. I don’t know what they want, but there is no cause for alarm. They were present when I delivered the lecture. All the students in the faculty were there. There was no financial inducement, nothing of that nature. I believe it was based on merit.”

Meanwhile, a source in the office of the Dean of Students Affairs, who asked not to be named, said they were unaware of any such group existing within the university.

Responding to the controversy, the Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the development as disturbing.

In a statement, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, Esq., urged both the state government and the House of Assembly to investigate the allegations.

“A professorship is not an ornament of political prestige. It is a hard-earned academic rank, achieved only through transparent scholarly progression — including mandatory service as a Reader or Associate Professor — and supported by verifiable research, teaching records, postgraduate supervision and recognised intellectual contributions.

“We call on the Governor of Edo State to address this matter publicly and transparently, rather than relying on the usual silence and subterfuge that have become his preferred means of avoiding accountability.

“We also call on the Edo State House of Assembly to redeem its battered dignity by setting up an independent, competent and credible investigative committee to examine the professorship claim, the PhD claim, academic trajectory, publications, teaching record and all related matters,” Osa-Ogbegie said.

Source: PM News
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