The ongoing process for the conferment of the 2026 Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank faces a major legal challenge as an association of lawyers has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to immediately halt the exercise or risk being sued.
The threat came hours after the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), chaired by the CJN, released a list of 89 shortlisted candidates on June 23, 2026. The list, signed by Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Esq., Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court and Secretary of the LPPC, includes 77 advocates and 12 academics who have passed the preliminary stages and are now set for final interviews.
In a pre-action notice dated June 24, 2026, the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) demanded that the LPPC discontinue the 2026 SAN conferment proceedings because the matter is currently sub judice.
ALDRAP and its Executive Director, Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, are locked in a legal battle with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the LPPC over the introduction of the “Blue Silks” rank, an alternative title for non-litigation lawyers.
The Abuja Federal High Court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, had earlier granted a perpetual injunction restraining ALDRAP from conferring the Blue Silks rank. The association has since appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal.
In the notice signed by its Administrative Secretary, Jesse Amuga, Esq., ALDRAP argued that continuing with the SAN process while the appeal is pending amounts to contempt of court.
“Our attention has been drawn to a publication… 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,” the notice stated.
Amuga warned that failure to halt the process would leave them no choice but to file a fresh lawsuit seeking an Order of Certiorari to quash the shortlist and restrain the CJN and LPPC Secretary from further actions on the 2026 exercise.
He emphasised that parties to a matter under appeal must not take steps that could prejudice its outcome. ALDRAP maintains that, under Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, it is entitled to create the Blue Silks rank for its members who are non-litigation practitioners.
The NBA and LPPC have consistently maintained that the SAN rank is the only recognised privilege in the Nigerian legal profession and have described the Blue Silks initiative as illegal.
The development has cast uncertainty over the 2026 SAN conferment, which is traditionally handled annually by the LPPC. Further updates are expected as the situation unfolds.
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