Insulate Nigerian Law School from politics, Wike tells senate

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has said the bill in the National Assembly, seeking the establishment of two campuses of the Nigerian Law School in each of the geopolitical zones in the country, is politically motivated.

He said proponents of the bill titled, ‘A bill for an Act to amend the Legal Education (Consolidation etc.) Act by establishing campuses for the Nigerian Law School, and for other related matters’, merely want to score cheap political points in their constituencies ahead of the 2023 general election.

Wike made this assertion during an unscheduled inspection of ongoing construction at the Dr. Nabo Graham Douglas Campus of the Nigerian Law School, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

He said it is unfortunate that some senators want to politicise the establishment of Nigerian Law School campuses, even when there are glaring evidence that the Federal Government cannot adequately fund existing ones.

Wike said the proposal that (in the South South zone) one campus should be in Yenagoa, and another in the village of the Deputy Senate President (when approval had already been given for the establishment of the Dr. Nabo Graham Douglas campus in Port Harcourt) smacks of petty politics.

According to him, there is no way the Council of Legal Education will support politically induced proliferation of Law School campuses across the country.

He said: “It is so unfortunate in this country that everything is being politicised. We are not perturbed because the Federal Government approved the establishment of this Law School. We got a letter from Mr. President through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, approving the establishment of this Law School. And he stated graciously through the Council of Legal Education that it should be established here in Port Harcourt.

“We said we are going to provide all the necessary infrastructure. I can see the level of infrastructure that is being provided, which, of course, I have said before, is going to be world-class.”

We are not only providing this infrastructure, we are also providing accommodation where the lecturers will live, with all other things attached to it. And this Law School will have its own investment, to take care of the School whether the government is here or not.”