Idara Jerome

Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) has secured approval from the Council of Legal Education (CLE) to commence its Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) programme.

The approval followed an earlier clearance by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in November 2025, after the commission conducted the required resource verification and institutional assessment of the university’s proposed Faculty of Law.

Unlike most academic programmes, the LL.B programme is subject to separate regulatory processes, with the NUC responsible for university academic programmes and the CLE overseeing legal education and professional requirements.

The CLE’s assessment focused on areas including academic staffing, facilities, library resources, curriculum implementation and other requirements for institutions seeking to train students for entry into the legal profession.

The development has been attributed to the sustained commitment of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, and the Vice Chancellor of AKSU, Prof. Otoabasi Akpan, particularly in providing the infrastructure and institutional support required to meet the regulatory standards.

The development was described as a significant milestone in the university’s academic expansion, with the successful completion of the two-stage approval process paving the way for AKSU to train future legal practitioners. “The story of Akwa Ibom State University’s Faculty of Law is therefore best understood as one of sequential regulatory compliance,” the statement said, noting that the NUC approval established the faculty while the CLE approval cleared it for professional legal education.

The statement added that the achievement reflected “the sustained efforts” of Governor Eno and the university management led by Prof. Akpan, stressing that their contributions were critical to navigating the regulatory requirements leading to the final approval.