The Council of Legal Education has released the results of the May 2026 Bar Final Resit Examination, with 983 of the 1,955 candidates who sat the examination, representing 50.3%, failing to meet the prescribed pass mark.

A total of 885 candidates, representing 45.3%, recorded a full pass, the Council disclosed.

The results were approved at the Council's Third Quarter Hybrid Meeting held on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

According to the breakdown, 55 candidates recorded a conditional pass, while 32 were absent from the examination. The Council also withheld the results of 19 candidates, without specifying reasons for the withheld outcomes.

In total, 1,070 candidates, representing 54.7% of those who registered for and sat the examination, did not obtain an outright pass, a figure that includes candidates with conditional results.

The May 2026 Bar Final Resit Examination was held from May 16 to 22 at the Nigerian Law School Headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, and forms part of the qualifying process for candidates seeking admission to the Nigerian legal profession.

The resit programme is designed for candidates who were unsuccessful in earlier attempts at the Bar Final Examination, including those referred in a single paper during previous diets. Candidates seeking to resit are typically required to attain at least 80% attendance at the mandatory revision classes administered by the Nigerian Law School, with reference or single subject candidates permitted to opt out of the revision classes.

Registration for the resit exercise involved a fee paid through the CBN/Remita payment gateway, alongside submission of supporting documents to the Office of the Secretary to the Council and Director of Administration.

Candidates who failed the May 2026 resit will be required to re register and sit the examination again at a later date, in line with the Council's established process for unsuccessful candidates.

A pass rate below 50% at a resit sitting continues to draw attention from legal educators and stakeholders, who have raised recurring concerns over preparation, curriculum delivery, and the support structures available to candidates across the Nigerian Law School's various campuses.

The Council did not announce a date for the Call to Bar Ceremony for successful candidates at the time of the result release.