Court orders Unical to pay N55m to ex-students admitted for unaccredited courses

By Ehigimetor Igbaugba

The Federal High Court, Calabar Division, has ordered the University of Calabar (Unical) to pay N55 million to eight ex-students over what it described as fraudulent, reckless, and deceitful conduct.

The court gave the order in the suit filed by the students who were admitted into the university’s engineering programmes in 2021. However, the engineering programmes lacked accreditation as at the time of the admission of the students.

The case was instituted in 2021 by Idiong Godwin and seven other students, referred to as the “Unical 8”.

Defendants in the suit are: the University of Calabar, its former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, and four others.

The students approached the court after discovering that the engineering programmes, into which they had been admitted, lacked accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

According to the plaintiffs, Unical presented the programmes as fully operational in its faculty handbooks and public representations.

The plaintiffs said that it was only after they had progressed to their third and fourth year, paid their fees, and completed examinations that the NUC, during a resource verification exercise, directed them to revert to 200 level because the courses were not accredited.

According to the students, some departments were later discontinued entirely, leaving those affected stranded academically.

In its defence, the university argued that accreditation follows a process and claimed the students were aware of the circumstances when they enrolled.

The institution also maintained that the students acted of their own choice.

However, Justice Rosemary Dugbo-Oghoghorie, rejected that argument and held that the university failed in its duty of care.

The court ruled that no institution should run an academic programme without prior approval from the NUC and that students ought to have been properly informed of the accreditation status before admission.

The judge further held that full accreditation for the programmes was only obtained in the 2024/2025 academic session, long after the affected students were expected to graduate.

Consequently, the court awarded N50 million in general damages and N5.2 million in special damages, citing the psychological distress and academic setback suffered by the plaintiffs.

The motion to halt programmes in the Faculty of Engineering was refused, as evidence before the court showed that accreditation has now been secured.

Also, the prayer to return the students to their former departments was also declined on the grounds that events had overtaken the request, particularly with the discontinuation of some departments.

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the students, Mr Ozinko Ozinko, praised his clients for challenging the institution, noting that although the compensation offers some relief, it cannot fully restore the years lost.

One of the plaintiffs, Ekpedeme Godwin, expressed satisfaction with the outcome, saying the students endured significant hardship and intimidation before seeking redress in court.

On his part, counsel to the university, Mr Jonas Abuo, expressed appreciation to the court but declined to comment further.

(NAN)