The petitions by the non-litigation attorneys, below the aegis of Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, and the Nigerian Law Society, NLS, adopted an earlier petition lodged earlier than the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC, by Akanbi in opposition to Executive Secretary of the NLS, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja and attorneys who have been conferred with the Blue Silks rank.
Akanbi, by advantage of his place as Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, can also be the Secretary of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC, a physique which confers the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, title on attorneys within the nation.
“Specifically, Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi has repeatedly being in violation of Rule 33 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, and Section 36(9) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 ever since we commenced lawsuits in opposition to him.
“Whenever any lawsuit is instituted in opposition to any lawyer, they’re prohibited from publication of prejudicial statements earlier than the ultimate judgement of delivered.
“In disobedience to this hallowed precept of sub-judice, on thirteenth February and in July 2026, Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi in his capability because the Secretary of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee-LPPC, printed in a number of nationwide newspapers prejudicial statements in opposition to Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, and the included trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP).
“This is a blatant violation of each Sections 36(1), (9) and 36(12)of the Nigerian Constitution as a result of by advantage of that publication Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi is looking for the prosecution of Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, SCN and 13 different attorneys on the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) with out ready for last judgment by each the Court of Appeal Abuja Division and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria respectively.
“The main challenge for dedication in these lawsuits is whether or not Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja SCN and different attorneys, members of ALDRAP and the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), don’t benefit from the basic rights to freedom of affiliation to confer upon themselves the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN. This is the equal of Fellowship of the mentioned ALDRAP and the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) for non-litigation attorneys,” components of the petition learn.
It added that, opposite to the alleged “prejudicial” publications of each the officers of the NBA and Akanbi, “on the time of their publication, no court of legislation inside Nigeria has delivered any judgment to proclaim that the Blue Silks rank was unlawful”.
The non-litigation attorneys, within the petition, famous {that a} judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on twenty seventh January 2026, by implication, gave impetus to the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, SCN.
“In the mentioned judgment, it was acknowledged that the NBA and by extension the LPPC might solely regulate Nigerian attorneys on issues which can be particularly acknowledged contained in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962. This signifies that the NBA and LPPC can regulate the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as a result of it’s contained inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962,” the petition added.
They additional argued that it was a gross violation of the precept of truthful listening to for Akanbi to file the petition, since, by advantage of his place as Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, he’s instantly or not directly a member of the LPDC.
In a separate petition, the non-litigation attorneys sought the pressing intervention of the Public Complaints Commission, PCC, “to stop a collection of acts of maladministration and administrative injustices by the actions of Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria who has repeatedly refused to abide by the sub-judice rule since February 2026”.
Parts of the petition learn, “We write to respectfully request the Public Complaints Commission to intervene to name Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to cease the abuse of the powers conferred upon him by advantage of his workplace because the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“Specifically, Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi has repeatedly being in violation of Rule 33 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, and Section 36(9) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 ever since we commenced lawsuits in opposition to him.”
The petition additional acknowledged that it’s on file that 72 % of 213,000 certified Nigerian attorneys are at present non-litigation attorneys who’ve chosen to not interact in full-time courtroom litigation follow. It added that since 1975, this class of attorneys have routinely been excluded from software and conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, as a result of the standards for conferment excludes them.
They famous that the introduction of the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria was “meant to offer a compensatory scheme for non-litigation Nigerian attorneys”.
Noting that the applying for and conferment of the Blue Silks rank is a voluntary scheme, the petition added, “In December 2023, Hon. Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court Abuja delivered a judgment that acknowledged that primarily based upon Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, Nigerian attorneys are free to type associations of attorneys and register these by any names such because the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and this freedom of affiliation doesn’t in any approach jeopardise or infringe upon the rights of the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
“This judgment is now the subject-matter of on-going litigation on the Court of Appeal. Both the NBA and Mr. Akanbi are suggested to await the ultimate judgment on these issues as an alternative of taking extra-judicial and prejudicial statements by submitting petitions in opposition to a few of the similar individuals who’re litigants in opposition to them within the courts of legislation.”
