Edo PDP Demands Probe of Attorney General’s Professorship

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has issued a strong call for the State House of Assembly, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the Council of Legal Education (CLE) to launch an immediate investigation into the alleged controversial Professor of Law title conferred on the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru SAN.

Dependable NG reports that the party said the call for a probe was necessitated by a petition filed by the Concerned Law Students, Faculty of Law, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State. 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 may have been conferred with the title of Professor of Law in circumstances that unmistakably point 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,” stated that this development is profoundly troubling.

The party detailed the requirements for the rank, stating: “A professorship is not an ornament of political prestige. It is a hard-earned academic rank achieved only through transparent scholarly progression… The petition alleges that none of these essential academic milestones was attained before the purported appointment of Mr. Otaru as Professor of Law.” It also raised questions about the authenticity and academic weight of the PhD said to have been obtained recently from a “nondescript institution.”

The PDP further criticized the administration, noting that the Governor and the State House of Assembly “failed woefully to conduct proper background checks before clearing and appointing commissioners,” calling it a testament to “administrative incompetence and indolence.”

The party called on Governor Monday Okpebholo to immediately address the matter publicly and called on the Edo State House of Assembly to constitute an independent, competent, and credible investigative committee to probe the professorship and PhD claims. They also urged the NUC and CLE to conduct external verification and publish their findings.

The statement concluded: “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.”

In reaction, Prof Roland Otaru described the allegations as a deliberate attempt to smear his rising profile, insisting that he was duly appointed as a Professor by the Senate of the Federal University.

Otaru defended his credentials: “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.” He further clarified that he was not the only one conferred with the title that day, stating that the appointment was based on merit and had no financial inducement.