University Defies Court Order, Fails To Restore Student Portal Of Postgraduate Student

Justice Maha in the ruling dismissed an application presented by the Respondents for an order to grant stay of execution of the judgment in favour of Bello.

The University of Ibadan (UI) and several top officials have refused to comply with a Federal High Court judgment compelling them to restore access to the student portal of Kayode Bello, a postgraduate student of the school.

The school is Nigeria’s first university.

Justice Evelyn Maha had, on October 17, 2025, ordered the university and the listed officials to immediately restore Bello’s portal access to enable him complete his registration and graduate from UI’s Master’s programme in Communication and Language Arts.

The Court’s judgment mandates the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Mr. Saliu Ganiyu, the Registrar, University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayo Ogunjuyigbe, the Provost of the Post Graduate College, University of Ibadan, Mr. Ajayi Abiodun, the Head of the Information and Technology Unit, Post Graduate College in the institution, and Dr. Bisi Olawuyi, the Head of the Department of Language and Communication, in the same institution, as respondents, to allow Bello to have access to his student portal for the purpose of registration and graduation at the school.

However, checks by SaharaReporters as of press time revealed that the student portal of Bello, a Master’s graduate in Communication and Language Arts, remained blocked by the respondents.

Meanwhile, Justice Maha in the ruling dismissed an application presented by the Respondents for an order to grant stay of execution of the judgment in favour of Bello.

The ruling was delivered on November 14, 2025, at the Federal High Court in Ibadan.

The Court held that the respondents did not disclose any exceptional circumstance to warrant stay of execution of judgment in favour of Bello.

The Senate of the University of Ibadan approved the postgraduate results of Bello for graduation last year but Prof. Ayo Ogunjuyigbe, the Provost of the Postgraduate College of the school, removed Mr. Bello’s name from the graduation list without any reason.

The court also expressly mandated the university to restore Bello’s name to the convocation list and ensure all graduation formalities are completed.

Bello’s academic access was first blocked in 2021, forcing him into a prolonged legal battle that culminated in the 2025 judgment in his favour.