983 candidates fail 2026 Bar resit as failure rate rises to 50.3%

A total of 983 candidates failed the May 2026 Bar Final Resit Examination, representing 50.3 per cent of the 1,955 candidates who sat for the examination, according to the Council of Legal àEducation (CLE).

The CLE disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday by its Secretary and Director of Administration, Aderonke Osho.

ÌlThe Council said the results were approved at its third-quarter hybrid meeting held on Thursday.

According to the Council, 885 candidates passed the examination, while 55 obtained conditional passes.

It added that 32 candidates were absent, while the results of 19 candidates were withheld.

The latest result represents a significant deterioration compared with the 2025 Bar Final Resit Examination, when 608 out of 1,675 candidates failed, representing a failure rate of 36.3 per cent.

The 2026 failure rate of 50.3 per cent therefore represents an increase of 14 percentage points compared with the previous year’s resit examination.

The development means that more than half of the candidates who took the 2026 resit did not obtain a full pass, based on the figures released by the Council.

The CLE did not, in the statement supplied, provide an explanation for the increase in the failure rate.

The Bar Final Examination is conducted by the Council of Legal Education through the Nigerian Law School for candidates seeking qualification for admission to the Nigerian Bar.

Candidates who successfully complete the required academic and professional training and pass the Bar examinations proceed to the Call to Bar process.