The National University Commission, NUC, has withdrawn accreditation for Law and Dentistry at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, prompting the school to ask prospective students to change their first choices.

In text messages, the school asked admission seekers for the 2018/2019 academic year they will not be given admission into Law, Botany, Dentistry, Fine Arts and Medical Rehabilitation as JAMB had so advised due to accreditation issues.

“Your first choice course did not receive accreditation. Login to your profile and change course/institution,” the text message read.

When contacted, OAU spokesperson, Abiodun Olanrewaju said the institution “will sort it out”.

The spokesperson of JAMB Fabian Benjamin advised “the candidates to go on and change” the courses.

The spokesperson of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in a text message Sunday night told PREMIUM TIMES the programmes had been denied accreditation, but said it did not translate to full suspension.

“In the actual sense, Medical Rehabilitation has full accreditation status,” he said.

A mother, Suliyat Aina, told PREMIUM TIMES that the university did not get things right as the notification came as a shock.

“My son ran to me showing me the text message he got from JAMB with respect to the course, he applied to study in Ife (Botany). He was confused but we could do nothing,” she said. I made him understand that the best for him is to change his course. I stay in Ife and would not want him to go far away from home at his age.”

Also Segun Olukoya, another candidate said he had been a candidate of “changing courses due to the inconsistency in the accreditation of Law in the institution.

“I wrote UTME in 2016, scored 240 but didn’t get Law, I wrote last year, scored 278 but law didn’t work out and now that I scored 315 in UTME, the bad news that OAU is not accredited for law came up. It is a sad thing for the leadership of the faculty and indeed, the university at large. Changing my course is again my wish. If I have wanted to study English, I will have voluntarily chose that during JAMB registration,” he said.

Daniel Adedigba, the president of the faculty of law said his faculty has truly lost its accreditation but stressed that authorities are working to put things in order as soon as possible.