Justice Segun Bello has ordered all parties involved to keep things as they are with admission processes until the court hears and decides on the case.
The Federal High Court in Enugu told Obafemi Awolowo University (AOU) and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to stop all admissions based on their recent Post UTME exams.
Justice Mabel Segun Bello gave the ruling on Tuesday after five candidates filed a case “on behalf of all other affected candidates of the 2025 UNILAG and OAU Post UTME.”
The candidates are Chibuzor Succes, Zainab Oyeleye, Adedeji Samuel, Monsura Aduragbemi, and Bassey Nsikak. They are represented by F.K. Nnadi and Co., a law firm in Enugu.
JAMB, which manages the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), was also listed as a defendant.
OAU’s spokesperson, Abiodun Olarewaju, said the school knows about the ruling but has not studied it yet because of the public holiday. He added that the university will review the ruling and respond.
“After the university deliberates on this issue, we will come out with our own position,” he said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Attempts to reach UNILAG’s spokesperson, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, were unsuccessful as her phone was unreachable and text messages were not answered.
Petitioners’ demands
According to the judgment copy seen by Premium Times, the candidates asked the court to stop the universities from releasing, approving, uploading, or finalising any admission list for the 2025/2026 academic year until the case is decided.
They also asked the court to order JAMB not to process any admission list from the universities until the case is settled.
They requested “an order of status quo directing the respondents to maintain the current state of affairs and suspend all admission processes relating to the 2025/2026 academic session pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice.”
Ruling
Justice Segun-Bello ordered the candidates to notify OAU, UNILAG, and JAMB. She also told all parties to maintain the current state of affairs until the case is heard.
“Having considered extensively the four prayers of the Applicant, it is important to note that a veritable and triable issue does exist here necessary for both parties to be heard, hence the Applicants are hereby directed to place the Respondents on notice,” the ruling reads.
“This court also further directs that parties should maintain status quo with the current state of affairs being preserved relating to the 2025/2026 academic session admission list and all these pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
Pre-action notice
Last month, Premium Times reported that F.K. Nnadi and Co. had warned both universities of a possible lawsuit. They accused the schools of irregularities that gave candidates low Post-UTME scores.
In a notice dated 11 September, the law firm told the universities to release the withheld Post-UTME results, allow students or an independent body to review their exam scripts, and give those accused of malpractice a fair hearing before punishment.
UNILAG responded at the time, saying those flagged for malpractice had clearly broken exam rules.
“These detections followed the use of multiple monitoring mechanisms, including secure video surveillance, deployed to ensure the integrity of the screening process,” the university said through its spokesperson, Ms Alaga-Ibraheem.
The Registrar, Abosede Wickliffe, also wrote that all results had been released, and those disqualified for malpractice were informed.
“In line with its exclusive prerogative, the university activated its internal mechanisms to investigate and deliberate on these infractions. This led to the disqualification of certain candidates -potentially including one or more of your clients, as inferred from your letter,” the letter reads in part.
“While the University respects the right of individuals to seek redress for perceived grievances, it is important to reiterate that admission into the university is strictly provisional and contingent upon the fulfilment of clearly defined conditions.”
Post-UTME concerns
Alex Onyia, CEO of Educare, accused the universities of wrongly flagging students for malpractice and mismatching scores because of a system glitch.
He said he collected 752 complaints from affected students.
“UNILAG, OAU and UI are toiling with the destinies of young Nigerians,” he tweeted. “If nothing is done quickly, we will take up legal action against them. There was a major bug and glitch with the Web Test software that affected the students.”
