By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Some Concerned lawyers, under the aegis of Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners ALDRAP has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, demanding the immediate halt of all processes leading to the 2026 edition of the conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, pending the hearing and determination of subsisting legal proceedings at the Court of Appeal.
The legal body said it would explore all available legal pathways to seek redress should the authorities ignore its demand.
The ALDRAP position is coming against the backdrop of the recent publication of names of lawyers shortlisted for the 2026 SAN conferment exercise.
The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee LPPC, had, on June 23, 2026, made public the list of 89 applicants to be honoured with the SAN Rank during its 2026 investiture ceremony.
In a statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court Kabir Eniola Akanbi, the LPPC informed that the list comprise 77 advocates ,and 12 academics.
However, in a pre-action notice dated June 24, 2026, and signed by its Administrative Secretary Jesse Amuga, ALDRAP called on the CJN, LPPC, and other relevant authorities to discontinue the conferment exercise as going ahead would amount to prejudicing the case at the Court of Appeal.
In the pre-action notice addressed to the CJN in her capacity as the Chairperson of the LPPC, the ALDRAP maintained that the general principle of rule of law requires that parties must not do anything to jeopardize a subject matter when it is already sub-judice.
“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 than to instruct our lawyer 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 LPPC to continue with the said proceedings.
“The Court of Appeal is yet to deliver judgment on this subject matter . Therefore, the LPPC should wait, and suspend all activities until after the judgment of the Appeal Court”, ALDRAP stated.
It will be recalled that the ALDRAP has been pushing for the recognition and existence of another professional Rank-the Blue Silks, to exist side by side with the SAN title.
However, Justice Omotosho, while ruling on a motion ex-parte instituted by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, on June 13, 2026, granted a perpetual order restraining ALDRAP from conferring the Blue Silks rank on lawyers.
But dissatisfied, the association approached the Appellate court seeking a reversal.
The NBA and the LPPC had maintained that the only recognised rank within the legal profession in Nigeria remains the SAN.
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