*Rules University Senate Had Power To Withdraw Certificate After Investigation Found Irregular Transcript And Breach Of Admission Regulations
The Court of Appeal, Owerri Judicial Division, in a landmark judgment in Abia State University, Uturu & Anor v. Chief Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu (2021) LPELR-56190(CA), upheld the cancellation and withdrawal of the degree result and certificate of former Abia State Governor and serving Senator Orji Uzor Kalu by the Senate of Abia State University, after an investigation found that an unsigned and unheaded document served as his admission transcript, that he had been out of university for over fifteen years before seeking admission by transfer in breach of academic regulations, and that the trial court was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction without the former governor first exhausting the internal appeal mechanism provided under the university’s governing statute.
The judgment, delivered on November 30, 2021, in suit No. CA/OW/245/2018, by a three-member panel comprising Justices Oludotun Adebola Adefope-Okojie, Amina Audi Wambai, and Ibrahim Wakili Jauro, allowed the appeal filed by Abia State University and its Senate, set aside the decision of the Abia State High Court that had ruled in Orji Kalu’s favour, and effectively reinstated the cancellation of the former governor’s degree, leaving him without the university credential that the Senate had determined was obtained on the basis of irregular admission documentation.
The case began with a petition titled “Need to investigate allegations of fraud and breach of regulation that, if confirmed true, can destroy the credibility of certificates awarded by Abia State University, Uturu.”
The petition was written to Chief T.A. Orji, the then Governor of Abia State, who forwarded it to the Vice-Chancellor of Abia State University for immediate action.
The university responded by constituting an Ad-hoc Senate Investigation Panel to examine the allegations contained in the petition.
The Panel’s investigation into Orji Kalu’s admission file uncovered several irregularities that formed the basis for the Senate’s subsequent decision.
First, the Panel found that an “unheaded” and “unsigned” document, regarded as an academic transcript, was in the candidate’s file. A legitimate university transcript bears the heading of the issuing institution, the signature of an authorised officer, and other institutional identifiers that authenticate it as a genuine document. The absence of these basic features raised serious questions about the provenance and authenticity of the document on which Orji Kalu’s admission was processed.
Second, the Panel noted that based on this purported transcript, Orji Kalu had been at the University of Maiduguri between 1980 and 1984. As at the date he sought admission into Abia State University, he had been out of university for over fifteen years, a gap that conflicted with the Academic Regulations of the university.
The Panel concluded that this fifteen-year gap rendered Orji Kalu unqualified for admission by transfer into Abia State University “in the first instance,” meaning he should never have been admitted under the rules governing transfer admissions.
Based on these findings, the Panel recommended that the University Senate cancel and withdraw the degree result that had been awarded to Orji Kalu.
The University Senate acted on the Panel’s recommendation in two stages.
The recommendation was initially approved at the Senate’s 113th Regular Meeting on Wednesday, October 30, 2002, during which the Senate accepted the Panel’s findings and endorsed the cancellation.
Subsequently, at its 169th Extra-Ordinary Meeting on Friday, March 1, 2013, the Senate formally approved the cancellation and withdrawal of the degree result and certificate awarded to Orji Kalu approximately eleven years after the degree had been conferred.
The decision was publicly announced through a publication in the Daily Independent Newspaper on March 4, 2013, stating that Orji Kalu’s degree result and certificate had been cancelled and withdrawn.
The public announcement transformed what had been an internal academic matter into a national controversy, given Orji Kalu’s status as a former governor and one of Nigeria’s most prominent political figures.
Aggrieved by the Senate’s decision, Orji Kalu proceeded to the Abia State High Court sitting at Isukwuato, filing suit against the university and its Senate.
His case rested on three principal contentions.
First, he argued that neither the Ad-hoc Panel investigating the allegations nor the Senate heard from him before taking the decision that was adverse to him. He was not invited to appear before the Panel, was not given an opportunity to defend himself, and was not present when the Senate voted to cancel his degree.
Second, he contended that he was not informed of the existence of any allegations made against him or the identities of those making the allegations. He learnt of the cancellation through the newspaper publication rather than through any formal communication from the university.
Third, he argued he was not afforded any opportunity to make representations in respect of the allegations before the decision was taken, a violation of the principles of natural justice and fair hearing.
He sought various declaratory and mandatory reliefs, including orders setting aside the cancellation and restoring his degree.
The university’s defence was that all documents required by the Panel were contained in Orji Kalu’s file before them, that no oral representation was required, and that the Panel had conducted a proper documentary investigation based on the available records.
The trial court, presided over by Justice A.U. Kalu, found in Orji Kalu’s favour. The judge held that Section 9(5) of the Abia State University Law was not a condition precedent to filing the suit, that Orji Kalu had the constitutional right under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution to approach the court without first exhausting the internal appeal mechanism, and that the Abia State University Law, being a state law, could not override the constitutional guarantee of access to justice.
The trial court set aside the Senate’s decision and effectively restored Orji Kalu’s degree.
