Kalu’s certificate: Coalition thanks investigative panel, asks council of legal education to resist pressure
A coalition, Civil Society Groups for Good Governance has commended the Council of Legal Education for constituting an investigative committee into the law school qualifying certificate of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, while urging the body to resist pressure and see the process through to a conclusion.
In a press statement made available by its President, Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, Wednesday in Abuja, the group, praised the Council for taking the petition seriously and called on the three-member ad hoc committee to stand firm in the discharge of its mandate despite the legal challenge mounted by the Deputy Speaker’s lawyers.
Recall, the Council had at its sitting on April 17, 2026, constituted the committee to investigate the petition, and in a letter dated April 21, 2026, directed Kalu to submit a written response within seven days to enable the committee carry out its assignment.
The allegations against Kalu include alleged perjury, false representation, and contradictions between his NYSC discharge certificate and his bar certificate.
The core of the matter concerns the timeline of Kalu’s NYSC service and his enrolment at the Nigerian Law School. Records indicate that on April 23, 2010, Kalu, then bearing the name Benjamin Okezie Osisiogu, declared upon admission into the Nigerian Law School that he was not and would not be engaged in any employment or NYSC service during his period of study.
However, his NYSC discharge certificate shows that his service year ran from March 9, 2010 to March 8, 2011, a timeline that coincides almost entirely with his law school enrolment period.
In response to the Council’s query, Kalu’s solicitors at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, in a letter dated April 28, 2026, described the petition as fundamentally deficient in law and urged the Council to dismiss it on three grounds: the absence of any vitiating criminal conduct, the petitioner’s reliance on an unsworn declaration, and the absence of any legal prohibition on simultaneous participation in the NYSC and Nigerian Law School programmes.
The legal team further contended that there is no express statutory power conferred on the Council to withdraw or cancel a qualifying certificate after it has been issued, and that doing so would amount to a penal outcome requiring strict compliance with constitutional provisions under sections 36(8) and 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution.
The CSGGG, while acknowledging that Kalu is entitled to present legal arguments in his defence, maintained that the Council retains sufficient authority under the Legal Education (Consolidation, etc.) Act to investigate allegations of false representation in the procurement of qualifying certificates.
The group expressed concern that the legal response focused on contesting the Council’s jurisdiction rather than addressing the substance of the allegations, and urged the committee not to allow technical arguments to derail a process it had already legitimately set in motion.
The group also raised concern over reports that the Deputy Speaker may seek a court injunction to restrain the Council from proceeding with the investigation, describing such a move as an attempt to use the judiciary to frustrate a statutory process.
The CSGGG further called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take notice of the situation and reaffirm publicly that no public official, regardless of rank or office, is above institutional scrutiny.
The Council has declined to discuss the matter publicly. Its Secretary and Director of Administration, Ms. Aderonke O. Osho, confirmed that a letter was sent to Kalu but said the probe would be handled privately, and declined to confirm whether a response had been received before the deadline elapsed.
Kalu has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in September 2011 and subsequently enrolled as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and has maintained that no competent legal authority has at any time invalidated his qualification or professional status.