Lawyers ask CJN to halt 2026 SAN conferment, threatening the exercise

The 2026 Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) conferment exercise has come under threat after a group of Nigerian lawyers requested the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere‑Ekun, to halt the process or face legal action.

The threat followed the release by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), chaired by the CJN, of a list of 89 applicants shortlisted for the 2026 SAN rank on 23 June 2026. The shortlist, signed by Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Esq., Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and Secretary of the LPPC, included 77 advocate applicants and 12 academic applicants.

The shortlisted candidates are scheduled for a final interview after successfully passing the preliminary stages of the 2026 SAN conferment process.

Each year the LPPC confers the SAN rank on lawyers who have earned the title.

However, the 2026 exercise has been threatened by lawyers associated with the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), who sent a pre‑action notice to the CJN demanding that the process be discontinued pending the outcome of a lawsuit before the Court of Appeal.

ALDRAP’s Incorporated Trustees and Executive Director, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, had previously requested the Abuja Federal High Court to stop the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the LPPC from interfering in the conferment of the Blue Silks rank, which the association introduced as an alternative to the SAN rank for non‑litigation lawyers. The association approached the Court of Appeal after the Abuja Federal High Court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, granted a perpetual injunction restraining it from conferring the Blue Silks rank.

The NBA and LPPC maintain that the SAN is the sole recognized rank in Nigeria’s legal profession, describing the Blue Silks as illegal and threatening sanctions on lawyers associated with it.

In a pre‑action notice dated 24 June 2026 and signed by Administrative Secretary, Jesse Amuga, Esq., ALDRAP stated that the 2026 SAN conferment exercise should be discontinued because the matter was sub‑judice.

The notice addressed to the CJN, as Chairman of the LPPC, read: “Our attention has been drawn to a publication in one of the national newspapers as part of proceedings for the conferment ceremony for the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) for the year 2026.”

“We write to respectfully request discontinuance of the said proceedings in view of the ongoing lawsuit on this subject matter. In the event that you fail to discontinue the said proceedings, you shall leave us with no other option than to instruct our lawyers to file a lawsuit to halt the proceedings.”

“Recall that our Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) filed a lawsuit against several parties including the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC).”

“Furthermore, recall that there is a judgment by Hon. Justice James Omotosho dated 13th May 2026 and thereafter a Notice of Appeal against the said judgment has been filed at the Court of Appeal.”

“Therefore, until the final determination of the said appeal of which the LPPC is a party, it would constitute a disobedience to the court for the LPPC to continue with the said proceedings.”

Amuga further explained that the general rule of law requires parties not to jeopardise a matter that is sub‑judice.

He noted that in response to the LPPC’s claim that only the SAN rank is recognised for Nigerian lawyers, the Incorporated Trustees of ALDRAP argued that, under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, additional ranks such as the Blue Silks’ rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria are permissible for ALDRAP members, who are non‑litigation lawyers and not subject to Sections 4 and 5 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.

Amuga cited a judgment delivered on 27 January 2026 by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Abuja Federal High Court as evidence that the LPPC cannot interfere in the conferment of the Blue Silks rank because it is not mentioned in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.

“The Court of Appeal is yet to deliver a judgment on this subject matter. Therefore, the LPPC should await and suspend all activities related to the conferment of ranks until after the judgment by the Court of Appeal,” he stressed.

The proposed lawsuit, to be filed if the 2026 SAN conferment exercise is not discontinued, would seek an Order of Certiorari against the CJN in her capacity as chairman of the LPPC and against Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in his capacity as Secretary of the LPPC, to withdraw the list of shortlisted candidates. According to Amuga, the lawyers would also ask the court to order the CJN and the LPPC secretary to desist from further actions on the 2026 SAN conferment exercise.