Admission Irregularities: OAU Under Fire as Lawyers Slam Varsity’s Response to Pre-Action Notice over ‘Expired Seal’

Segun Atanda/

The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has come under heavy criticism from legal practitioners and commentators after its Legal Unit questioned the validity of a pre-action notice served on the institution because the lawyer who issued it used a 2024 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.

In a letter dated October 4, 2025, and signed by Yinka Ayantola, Director of Legal Services, the university told Hon. Kene Nnadi, whose law firm, F.K. Nnadi & Co., had written to the Vice-Chancellor over alleged irregularities in the Post-UTME process, that he must establish his right to practise for 2025 before his notice could be recognised.

“It is our observation that the seal you affixed to your letter under reference is your 2024 seal. As you are aware, you have a duty to pay your practising fee for 2025 to enable you to write as a lawyer,” the letter read in part.

OAU’s reply, which was shared on the university’s official X handle, has since sparked a flurry of reactions online, with many lawyers describing it as “technically shallow” and “legally embarrassing.”

Human rights lawyer Festus Ogun, @mrfestusogun, wrote, “This is what legal practice has become. A letter was written to an institution of learning, in place of addressing its content, you simply attacked the seal of the legal practitioner. An average Nigerian lawyer is trained to be technical. We are not leaving the ghetto soon.”

Another X user, @Chidi_Nka, suggested that the OAU Legal Unit should have sought “advice from their 200-level law students to avoid this unnecessary embarrassment online,” arguing that there are “multiple rulings of court on the validity of even expired seals.”

@RapuluN described the university’s response as “very lazy,” adding, “I would advise the lawyer to take the next step. Shows the legal unit don’t read law reports to know the current position of the law on these seals.”

For @HarunaMGeo, the university’s action was “a blunder of this magnitude,” saying: “This technicality has been pronounced on by the Supreme Court and a lawyer can use an expired seal. Besides, who gave the Legal Unit a Green Seal because they are not entitled to that?”

Similarly, @astalavi asked, “What is OAU actually teaching its students when the lecturers aren’t up to date in the legal world?”

Legal commentator, @ROAzeez, also weighed in, referencing decided cases that have settled the issue of expired seals, and shared a link to one such judgment.

Despite the online backlash, OAU’s letter remains the university’s only official response to the pre-action notice, which accused it of procedural irregularities in its 2025 Post-UTME admission process.

The development has reignited debate over the relevance of NBA seals in legal correspondence and the balance between technical compliance and substantive justice.