Final Bar Exams: 251 Bag First Class, 888 Candidates Fail

By Stephen Asaba-ase

A total of 888 candidates failed the final bar examination conducted in November 2023 by the Nigerian Bar Association.

It was 4,412 Students that was successful out of a total of 5,300 that sat for the final Bar examination.
While 251 Students successfully came out first class.

Congress news learnt that the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, disclosed this at the call to the Bar ceremony held in Abuja on 6/03/2024.

He said, “Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Bench, I will be presenting at this Call to the Bar ceremony a total of 4,412 Students who were successful at the November 2023 Bar Final examinations as well as 14 candidates from previous Bar Final Examinations

“I am delighted to announce the great performance recorded by the candidates as tabulated in the Executive Summary below: Outstanding/General Performance.

“Total number of students that sat in the Bar final Examinations: 5,300.

“Total number of successful candidates: 4,412

“The Nigerian Law School is proudly elated to announce that a total number of 251 candidates bagged first class grade in the last Bar final examination. This is indeed an outstanding excellent performance and, of course, unprecedented.

“These figures translate to 83.3 per cent success at the Bar final examinations.”

The Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Mary Peter-Odili, retired Justice of the Supreme Court, described the current period as worse for the judiciary.

She noted that the confidence in the judiciary was dwindling as a result of the spate of conflicting judgments and in discipline among lawyers.

Peter-Odili said, “It is a bad period in the sense that the judiciary is being bashed and the people fate in the legal system is dwindling, due to the incessant conflicting judgments in our courts and the wide spread indiscipline amongst lawyers.”

She said that the Body of Benchers had set up a panel to see to the issues of jarring judgments.

“In a bid to address this vexed issue of conflicting judgments, the Body of Benchers should establish a commission made up of ranking members of the profession.

“The committee will ideate the best possible ways of resolving this concerns.

“When the panel of professional Lawyers completes its assignment proffered solution and presents its report to the Body of Benchers, then upon consideration and approval, a memo forwarded to the relevant bodies for implementation,” she stated.

She encouraged the new lawyers to shun all forms of corruption and tour the legal rectitude and the image of the judiciary unblemished.

Peter-Odili said, “You have been called to the Bar in a very important historic period in the legal profession in Nigeria, a time when the good, the bad and the ugly are all practicing at the same time.

“The good to the extent that the welfare of judicial officers is being taken seriously and the Body of Benchers in collaboration with other relevant commissions is championing the cause.

“I have read in the papers about the augmented funding of the judiciary and which is a positive advancement. I hope it will be backed by adequate disbursement of funds as and when necessary.”

The Correspondent also reports that among the new wigs is a former Governor of Rivers State and the immediate-past Minister of Transportation, Chief Rotimi Amaechi.