Council of Legal Education Approves 122 Universities to Offer Law Programmes in Nigeria, Adds Akwa Ibom State University
The Council of Legal Education has released an updated list of universities authorised to admit students into the Bachelor of Laws programme in Nigeria, expanding the number of approved institutions to one hundred and twenty two. The updated list was contained in a notice dated August 14, 2026, signed by the council’s Secretary and Director of Administration, Aderonke Osho, marking the latest revision to a roster that regulates which Nigerian universities can produce law graduates eligible to proceed to the Nigerian Law School.
Among the most notable additions to the newly expanded list is Akwa Ibom State University, an institution whose accreditation status had remained a subject of public scrutiny for several months. The university, located at Ikot Akpaden in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, had been conspicuously absent from two previous editions of the council’s approved list, despite having already received clearance from the National Universities Commission to commence its law programme and having gone ahead to admit students for the 2025/2026 academic session. With its inclusion on the latest list, Akwa Ibom State now has three recognised institutions offering law programmes, joining the University of Uyo and Topfaith University, Mkpatak.
The council’s approval process operates independently from that of the National Universities Commission, which handles the broader academic accreditation of degree programmes across Nigerian universities. While the NUC assesses and approves academic programmes based on institutional and resource capacity, the Council of Legal Education serves a separate regulatory function, determining specifically which universities are authorised to admit students into law programmes that qualify graduates for professional legal training at the Nigerian Law School. This distinction meant that even after AKSU received NUC clearance in November 2025, its law students remained in a state of uncertainty for several months due to the university’s repeated omission from the Council of Legal Education’s separately maintained list.
The council has continued to update its approved list periodically as part of its broader statutory responsibility to regulate legal education standards across the country. Earlier versions of the list published in March and June 2026 contained 114 and 117 approved universities respectively, reflecting a gradual expansion as additional institutions met the council’s requirements for admitting law students. The council has consistently warned that universities admitting students into law programmes without its explicit approval act contrary to regulations governing legal education in Nigeria, cautioning that graduates of unaccredited law faculties would not be eligible for admission into the Nigerian Law School regardless of the academic qualifications obtained from such institutions.
The council’s list continues to include notes on institutions currently operating under specific admission restrictions or moratoriums. Previous editions of the list identified Baze University in Abuja as being under a three year moratorium on law admissions covering the 2023/2024 through 2025/2026 academic sessions, while Lead City University in Ibadan remained under a longer five year moratorium extending through the 2027/2028 session. The Nigeria Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State, was similarly noted as being under a two year restriction covering the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 sessions, illustrating how the council continues to apply varying levels of scrutiny and restriction even among institutions that appear on its approved list.
The council reiterated that prospective law students, parents and guardians should independently verify the accreditation status of any university before pursuing admission into a law programme, stressing that gaining admission into a university to study law does not automatically guarantee eventual access to the Nigerian Law School. With the list now expanded to 122 institutions spanning federal, state and private universities across the country, the council indicated that it would continue reviewing and updating the roster as necessary in line with its ongoing mandate to regulate legal education standards throughout Nigeria.
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