Sixty-nine persons, comprising 68 legal practitioners and an academic, Prof. Nnamdi, have been elevated to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank in the 2026 conferment exercise.

Among the legal personalities are Ibrahim Adamu, Jude Okafor, Godwill Umoh, Sunday Obende, Adebayo Adaralegbe, Jimson Okodaso, Olalekan Bade-John, Olaotan Olusegun, Philemeon Daffi, and Adenrele Adegborioye, while Prof. Obiareri was awarded for his contributions to legal education and scholarship.

Their selection was approved yesterday in Abuja at the 174th Plenary Session of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of Kwara State, Senior Sulyman Ibrahim, also made the final list of SANs, despite a petition by the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, over his alleged abuse of his office’s prosecutorial powers for politically motivated criminal cases.

Saraki, a former governor of the state, had asked the LPPC to investigate what he described as Ibrahim’s repeated misuse of prosecutorial powers, and to withhold his elevation to the SAN rank pending the outcome of the inquiry.

In a statement by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and Secretary of the LPPC, Kabir Akanbi, the committee said the SAN rank remains the highest professional honour bestowed on Nigerian lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional distinction either in courtroom advocacy or through outstanding contributions to legal scholarship.

Beyond announcing the successful candidates, the LPPC also stressed that, in line with Paragraph 25(1) of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Guidelines and Rule 39(3) of the Rules of Professional Conduct, 2023, all successful applicants must neither publish nor encourage the publication of congratulatory advertisements relating to their nomination or conferment.

The LPPC warned that any violation of the directive could attract disciplinary sanctions for breaching statutory and ethical rules governing the legal profession.

Among others, it further directed all successful candidates to participate in and complete the mandatory pre-swearing-in induction programme organised in accordance with the directive of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN).

In his petition of May 25, 2026, Saraki had cited two cases of prosecutions this year in which he accused Ibrahim of malice against him. According to him, one involved the attorney-general’s alleged trumped-up charges in April regarding the concluded 2018 Offa robbery case.

In the other case, Saraki said, Ibrahim charged him under the penal code for posting on social media that incumbent Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq did not complete his secondary school.