The study of law and indeed the law programme in the University of Ilorin commenced in March 1983 with the employment of Dr. M.T. Abdulrazaq as a Lecturer in Law in the Law Unit of the Department of Business Administration under the Headship of Professor Eyitayo Lambo. The first set of students was admitted through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in September 1, 1983.

In 1984, the Law Unit was upgraded into a full Department of Law within the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences. The Head of that Department was Professor R.W. James, a distinguished academic and an acknowledged authority on Land Law and Policy in Nigeria, Tanzania and Papua New Guinea who had been previously lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (then University of Ife) and a Professor of Law at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania. It was under his headship in 1987 that the National Universities Commission (NUC) ordered the closure of the law programme. This closure led to the departure of Professor James. Professor Yerokun came in but left in 1988 and was succeeded by Dr. D. J. Bakinbinga who also left in 1989. Dr. M.T. Abdulrazaq suceeded Dr. Bakinbinga in the same year as the Coordinator of the Department until 1990 when Dr. George Ogunyomi took over. During the period 1983-1987, the University of Ilorin did not graduate any law student, rather all the students were transferred in 1987 to the Obafemi Awolowo University by a special arrangement for the purposes of the award of the Bachelor of Laws (Hons) Degree in Common Law. In 1994, after a lull of seven years and much persuasion, the National Universities Commission restored the law programme to the University with a mandate to award Bachelor of Laws (Common Law) and Bachelor of Laws (Common and Islamic Law) degrees. The Faculty of Law commenced under Professor J. O. Oyebanji as Coordinator of the Faculty. It is worthy of note that Professor J. O. Oyebanji, a Professor of Geography was the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences at the inception of the Department of Law in 1984. Professor M. T. Abdulrazaq came back as Dean of the Faculty in 1997.

The Law programme of the Faculty is founded on the principle of inculcating in the prospective Law graduates a clear understanding of the place and importance of Law in the society, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

The programme also recognizes that all human activities - social, economic, political, etc are conducted within the framework of the Law - human or divine and so seek to expose the students to other branches of knowledge intent on producing the total man.

One main objective of the programme is to produce lawyers who are relevant and responsive to societal needs and aspirations. Apart from strict law courses, students are exposed to other disciplines especially the social sciences. Our students are also drilled to develop their reasoning and analytical abilities in order to develop objective reasoning capabilities.

The Law Programme is also directed towards producing lawyers who can also operate in international scene. Thus, our students are exposed also to programmes whereby they interact with students from other countries

The Faculty of Law of this University offers two degree programmes i.e

(i)            LL.B(Hons) Common Law

(ii)           LL.B (Hons) Common & Islamic Law.

PAST DEANS

Professor M. T. Abdulrazaq          8^th September, 1997   -   10^th July, 2000.

Prof. A. Zubair                                  1^st August, 2000-   6^th September, 2001.

Dr. Z. O. Aje                                        7^th September, 2001   - 18^th July, 2005.

Prof. A. Zubair                                  18^th July, 2005            -   July 31^st 2007.

Dr. Ali Ahmad                                   1^st August, 2007          -   6^th February 2008,

Dr. M. M. Akanbi                              7^th February 2008        -   9^th February 2010.

Dr.  W. O. Egbewole                        9^th February 2010        -   10^th February, 2012

Dr. I. A. Abdulqadir                          11^th February, 2012     -   10^th February 2014.

Dr. I. A. Yusuf                                    11^th February 2014     -    9^th February 2016.

Dr. K. I. Adam                                    10^th February 2016     -    29^th February 2018.

Professor A. A. Oba                         1^st March 2018 to 30^th July, 2020.

Professor H.O. Ijaiya                      1^st August, 2020 to Date