Edo PDP Seeks Clarity on Law Students' Petition Against Attorney General

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo has called on the State House of Assembly, the National Universities Commission, NUC, and the Council of Legal Education, CLE, to investigate the alleged controversial Professor of Law title conferred on the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru, SAN.

DAILY POST reports that the party said the call for investigation was necessitated by a petition by the Concerned Law Students, Faculty of Law, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State signed by one K. Akanbi S.A.L.

A statement by the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Dan Osa-Ogbegie described the petition as embarrassing and disturbing.

Osa-Ogbegie opined that the petitioners alleged that the Edo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice may have been conferred with the title of Professor of Law in circumstances that point to an unmistakably to academic fraud.

The PDP statement titled, “Edo at a moral crossroads: Allegations of academic fraud against the Attorney-General demand immediate, public and credible investigation,” dated December 8, 2025.

According to him, this development is profoundly troubling. While it is true that Mr Otaru, SAN, has enjoyed a long and commendable legal career, such a career, however illustrious, cannot and must not be used to sidestep allegations of academic impropriety.

“A professorship is not an ornament of political prestige. It is a hard-earned academic rank achieved only through transparent scholarly progression, including mandatory service as Reader or Associate Professor, and backed by verifiable research, teaching, examination of postgraduate students, and recognised intellectual contributions.

“The petition alleges that none of these essential academic milestones was attained before the purported appointment of Mr Otaru as Professor of Law. It equally raises questions about the authenticity and academic weight of the PhD said to have been obtained only recently from a nondescript institution.

“These are not trivial inconsistencies. They are serious claims that strike at the heart of academia and at the dignity of the chief law office of our State.

“This is not the first time Edo people have been forced to endure embarrassment from the present administration. What makes this episode even more shocking is that the Governor and alleged his rubber-stamp State House of Assembly failed woefully to conduct proper background checks before clearing and appointing commissioners, despite taking nearly a full year to assemble a cabinet.

“The intellectual lassitude displayed by both the Governor and the Assembly in this matter is staggering. How a government that kept Edo waiting for months could not perform the most basic due diligence on nominees is yet another glaring testament to the administrative incompetence and indolence that have become the hallmark of this government.

“This is how Edo State, once respected for its intellectual heritage, now finds itself reeling from yet another avoidable national embarrassment orchestrated by an administration that confuses governance with improvisation and treats due diligence as an inconvenience.

“Edo people deserve more. We deserve truth, clarity and accountability, not silence, shortcuts and negligence”, he said.

The party, however, called on Governor Monday Okpebholo to immediately address the matter publicly and transparently, rather than through the usual silence and subterfuge that has become his alleged preferred method of avoiding accountability.

It also called on the Edo State House of Assembly to redeem its alleged battered dignity by constituting an independent, competent and credible investigative committee to probe the professorship claim, the PhD claim, the academic trajectory, publications, teaching records and all related circumstances.

It further called on the National Universities Commission, NUC, and the Council of Legal Education, CLE, to conduct external verification and publish their findings to Nigerians.

“If the allegations are false, let the Attorney-General be vindicated before the entire nation. If they are true, then Edo State must not, for a single day more, tolerate an Attorney-General whose academic credentials are the product of manipulation, misrepresentation or undue advantage”, he added.

The party posited that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led administration has embarrassed Edo people enough, stating that it must not add the desecration of academic credibility to its growing list of failures.

While noting that Edo people are watching, the party threatened that “this time, we will not look away”.

“This matter cannot be swept under the carpet. It cannot be managed in whispers. Integrity demands sunlight, and Edo people will accept nothing less”, Osa-Ogbegie stated.

However, reacting, Prof Roland Otaru described the allegations as a deliberate attempt to smear his rising profile.

Otaru insisted that he was duly appointed as a Professor by the Senate of the Federal University.

“I am a PhD holder, I have two Master’s Degrees, and I have up to five or six fellowships. I have been SAN, working for the past 20 years. So what are they talking about? Maybe somebody there engineered it because of my rising profile.

“It is very funny. The Senate of the University conferred it on me. I have a letter to that effect. And on that day, I was not the only one; we were about four. It was an approval from the Senate of the University, and I delivered the lecture on that day, December 9, 2024.

“They were there that day, they were there when I delivered the lecture. It was an assemblage of all the students in that faculty when I delivered the lecture. There was no financial inducement, nothing like that, The conferment was based on merit.

“It is not a fake award. I don’t know what they want, but there is no cause for alarm. I have the letter of the award”, he stated.