2026 SAN conferment exercise under threat as lawyers ask CJN to halt process

The 2026 Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, conferment exercise has come under threat as an association of Nigerian lawyers has asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to halt the process or face legal action.

The threat emerged shortly after the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, headed by the CJN, on June 23, 2026, released a list of 89 applicants shortlisted for conferment of the prestigious SAN rank. The shortlist, signed by Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Esq, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and Secretary of the LPPC, comprised 77 advocate applicants and 12 academic applicants.

The shortlisted applicants are slated for the final interview having successfully passed preliminary stages in the process leading to the conferment of the SAN rank for the year 2026.

Every year, the LPPC confers the SAN rank on lawyers adjusted to have merited the title.

However, the 2026 edition of the exercise has come under threat as lawyers under the umbrella of Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, have sent a pre-action notice to the CJN, asking that the process be discontinued pending the determination of a lawsuit before the Court of Appeal.

The Incorporated Trustees of ALDRAP and its Executive Director, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, had asked 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 by Justice James Omotosho, granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining it from conferring the Blue Silks rank.

The NBA and LPPC had maintained that Senior Advocate of Nigeria is the only recognized rank in the legal profession in Nigeria, describing the Blue Silks as illegal and threatening sanctions on lawyers associated with it.

However, in a pre-action notice dated June 24, 2026, and signed by Administrative Secretary, Jesse Amuga, Esq, ALDRAP said the 2026 SAN conferment exercise should be discontinued because the matter was sub-judice.

The pre-action 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 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.”

Shedding further light on the issue, Amuga argued that the general rule of law is that when a matter is sub-judice, parties must not do anything to jeopardise the subject matter.

He stated that, in response to LPPC’s argument that it is only the rank of SAN that is recognised for Nigerian lawyers, the Incorporated Trustees of ALDRAP filed a contrary argument that under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, additional ranks such as the Blue Silks’ rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria is permissible for members of ALDRAP, who are non-litigation lawyers and not subject to sections 4 and 5 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.

Amuga pointed out that ALDRAP also submitted a judgment delivered on January 27, 2026, by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Abuja Federal High Court, as supporting 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 in the event that 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 Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in his capacity as the 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.

2026 SAN conferment exercise under threat as lawyers ask CJN to halt process