Solicitors to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, have urged the Council of Legal Education to dismiss a petition seeking the withdrawal of his qualifying certificate as a lawyer, describing it as “fundamentally deficient in law.”
- +Lawyers urge council to dismiss petition against Kalu’s law certificate
In a letter dated April 28, 2026, and signed by Chukwuebuka S.
In a letter dated April 28, 2026, and signed by Chukwuebuka S. Okeke of Olaniwun Ajayi LP, the legal team responded to a petition filed on March 16, 2026, by John Martins.
The petitioner had sought the cancellation of Kalu’s certificate on the grounds that his attendance at the Nigerian Law School overlapped with his participation in the National Youth Service Corps.
However, the solicitors argued that the Council, being a statutory body established under the Legal Education (Consolidation, etc.) Act, can only exercise powers expressly conferred on it.
They stated that there is no statutory provision empowering the Council to withdraw or cancel a qualifying certificate after it has been issued.
According to the letter, the Council’s disciplinary powers are “implied and necessarily narrow” and can only be invoked in cases involving “manifest vitiating criminal conduct.”
“No such conduct has been established against Kalu,” the letter stated.
The lawyers urged the Council to reject the petition on three grounds: the absence of any vitiating criminal conduct, reliance on an unsworn declaration, and the lack of any legal prohibition against concurrent participation in the NYSC and Nigerian Law School programmes.
They maintained that, “The Council cannot revoke a lawfully issued certificate unless a clear case of criminal misconduct is proven. The petition does not meet that threshold.”
They further argued that the declaration relied upon by the petitioner was unsworn and therefore “carries no force of law,” adding that formal criminal proceedings are a precondition for invoking disciplinary powers based on alleged misconduct.
On the issue of the alleged illegality of concurrent participation, the solicitors said there was no statute, regulation, or binding rule prohibiting such an arrangement.
They added that neither the Legal Education Act nor the Legal Practitioners Act disqualifies a person from undertaking the Nigerian Law School programme while serving in the NYSC.
The letter also noted that a review of the Nigerian Law School Student Handbook for the 2010/2011 academic session revealed no express prohibition against such concurrency.
“The petitioner has annexed no official regulation, subsidiary legislation, or circular issued by the Council that explicitly bars contemporaneous Nigerian Law School studies and NYSC service,” the solicitors said.
They further argued that withdrawing the certificate would amount to a penal action requiring strict compliance with constitutional provisions.
Citing Sections 36(8) and 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the lawyers contended that the Council cannot impose any penalty in the absence of a written law prescribing both the offence and the punishment.
They described the petition as lacking a “legally cognisable foundation” and urged the Council to decline jurisdiction.
“For the foregoing reasons, it is respectfully submitted that the petition is fundamentally deficient in law and ought to be rejected,” the letter added.
The legal team also urged the Council to dismiss the petition, noting that a similar complaint was earlier rejected by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for lacking merit.
They added that they remain available to provide any further clarification the Council may require.
