The Senate has approved the establishment of six new campuses of the Nigerian Law School across the six geo-political zones of the country.
The newly approved law schools, in addition to the seven existing ones, bring the total number of law schools in the country to thirteen, excluding that of the Federal Capital Territory.
The approval of the new law schools followed the consideration of a report by the Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the Legal Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West).
Accordingly, the Senate approved the Jos Law School Campus, Plateau State; and Kabba Law School Campus, Kogi State for the North Central geo-political zone.
The chamber also gave the nod for the Yola Law School Campus, Adamawa State; and Maiduguri Law School Campus, Borno State to serve the North East zone.
In the North West, the Senate approved the Kano Law School Campus, Kano State; and Argungun Law School Campus, Kebbi State.
In the South East, the chamber gave approval for the Enugu Law School Campus; and Okija Law School Campus, Anambra State.
The Senate also approved the Yenegoa Law School Campus, Bayelsa State; Port Harcourt Law School Campus, Rivers State; and Orogun Law School Campus, Delta State for the South South zone.
In the South West, the chamber approved the Lagos Law School Campus, Lagos State; and Ilawe Law School Campus, Ekiti State.
The Bwari Law School Campus, Abuja, remains exclusively for the Federal Capital Territory.
Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the creation of the six law schools was a legislative intervention to address “the exponential increase in the number of law graduates from Nigerian universities and foreign ones, coupled with the backlog that existed over the years.
Bashir Mayere