By Ayodele Oni
The PhD certificate which Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru, SAN, says he possesses, is under scrutiny. A group of law students and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are demanding for its proper scrutiny by relevant bodies.
Concerned Law Students of the Faculty of Law, Federal University (FUOYE), Oye-Ekiti, queried the genuineness of the Professorship title conferred on the State Commissioner.
The group in a petition to the National Universities Commission (NUC) and Council of Legal Education, signed by C K. Akanbi, dated 7th December 2025, alleged that Otaru may have compromised the authorities of the school to get it, describing the conferment as “a great academic fraud” and called for its investigation.
“The said Otaru is a full time private legal practitioner in Ilorin Kwara State, who got his PhD in law two years ago from one private University in Ogun State.
“He has neither taught nor examined postgraduate law students anywhere in Nigeria to qualify him for appointment as an Associate Professor of law (Reader), let alone Professor of law.
“It is for this reason that we ask that the circumstances surrounding the alleged conferment of the Professor of law status on Mr. Roland Otaru is investigated and the culprits brought to book,” the petition reads in part.
The group threatened a week-long protest by mid-January 2026, if the issue is not investigated, adding: “As law students, we have decided to speak up, because our lecturers who know the truth are afraid of shaking tables.
Reacting to the development, the Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the development was troubling.
A statement by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, also called on the state government and the House of Assembly to investigate allegations.
“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 Governor of Edo State to immediately address this matter publicly and transparently, rather than through the usual silence and subterfuge that has become his preferred method of avoiding accountability.
“The Edo State House of Assembly to redeem its battered dignity by constituting an independent, competent and credible investigative committee to probe the professorship claim, the Ph.D claim, the academic trajectory, publications, teaching records and all related,” Osa-Ogbegie said
When contacted, Otaru denied the allegation saying it could be a deliberate attempt to smear his rising profile as he insisted that he was duly appointed as a Professor by the Senate of the University.
“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, 9th of December 2024.
“I am a PhD holder, I have two Masters 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 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.
“They were there that day, they were there when I delivered the lecture, it was an assemblage of all students in that faculty and I delivered the lecture there. There was no financial inducement, nothing like that, I think it was based on merit.”
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