….says CCTV Cameras installed to curb exam malpractices

By Gift ChapiOdekina,Abuja

The Director General of Nigerian Law School, Professor Isa Chiroma has disclosed that examination malpractices remain a grave offence for anyone caught during the examination period.

Professor Chiroma stated this in Abuja during an investigative hearing into a motion bothering on the alleged withholding of Bar results and backlog of Students awaiting call to the Bar, held at the instance of House Committee on Justice, chaired by Hon. Olumide Osoba.

Chiroma who dismissed the petition on withheld results initiated by hundreds of Law Graduates who staged peaceful protest at the entrance of the National Assembly complex, Abuja recently, disclosed that CTv cameras have been installed in various examination halls at the Law School in Abuja.

While noting that it is the statutory responsibility of the Body of Benchers to determine those who are qualified for Call to Bar, Professor Chiroma argued that those who failed the examinations cannot be called to Bar.

The Law School helmsman who presented some of the visual evidences of female students who wrote on her lapses and sensitive parts of their bodies.

While relaying the due process being followed by the Law School in order to ensure transparency, he said: “When somebody is apprehended in the examination hall, there’s a process, first and foremost, whether it’s called Copy he came in with extraneous materials, or he came in with telephone, these are strict liability offence, whether when you are in the exam will be telephone, whether use it or not. Is a strict liability offence.

“So all these are situations, and nobody has disputed this. When this is done, they come before a Committee of Management. This committee is responsible in determining whether this person is guilty or not. They are brought in, they are given the opportunity to defend themselves. Most of them, say is that ‘it’s the work of the devil, it will never repeat itself again’; ‘Forgive us, it was a mistake’; ‘I didn’t know this. This is what happens. So it’s not some, it’s not in dispute. You, you won’t go and say you are a committee examination, but practice, and there is no evidence to attach to it.

“What I want to say clearly, Law School, like every organised system, has its calendar, and whatever we do in Law School is based on this calendar. At the beginning of every session, we advertised for admissions. We have timing for when admissions will end, our lectures, internship program, when students come out to do more trial examinations, timetable for examinations, when results are to be processed, and when results are to be out in all these things, each body has its role.

“For example, when it comes to examinations, when examinations are marked, it goes to the Board of Examiners,” and passed the outcome of its findings to the Board of Studies and later to the Committee of Council, which also look at the result.

“What the Council does is to either ratify or make certain decisions on these results. And in our system, once the Council approved the results that day, that is always out on our portal. That’s how this system works. So, the issue of withholding results does not even arise. This result comes out on the day the Council approves.

“So when we saw that people were writing to the National Assembly to say that they should intervene to ask us to release results that we withheld, there’s no reason to withhold results. Any result withheld in Law School has to do, for example, with examination malpractice.”

Responding to the House resolution on ‘Call to Bar, he the call to bar is not an activity of Council regarding Law School. It is the activity of Body of Benchers by regulation, and Body of Benchers also like I’ve said, every system has its own calendar. The Body of Benchers has decided long ago, Call to Bar will be in July and November. And that’s the reason why those who passed by examination are going to be Call to Bar, specifically on the 8th to 10th of July this year, and another group that the backlog from 18 to 20 of November. That is how this process work.”

In response to the presentation, the chairman of the committee, Rep. Olumide Osoba expressed the Committee’s satisfaction with the installation of CCTV in Law School, Abuja. He underscored the need for additional budgetary provision for installation of CCTV in other Law Schools across the country.

He also gave the Law School management a clean bill for providing various pictorial evidence of victims involved in exam malpractices, which were presented to the Committee.

He, however, noted that the Committee will embark on an oversight function of all the Law Schools across the country in the next few weeks, to have first-hand knowledge of the existing infrastructure put in place.