Nigerian non-litigation attorneys who took up the Blue Silks rank have cried out to the world prison neighborhood over alleged persecution by means of the Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom of Nigeria, Mr. Kabir Akanbi.
Akanbi had petitioned the Prison Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC, searching for sanctions at the attorneys over the Blue Silks rank.
The Blue Silks rank, presented by means of the Affiliation of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, and the Nigerian Legislation Society, NLS, as a substitute for the Senior Suggest of Nigeria, SAN, rank for non-litigation attorneys, is being hostile by means of the Nigerian Bar Affiliation, NBA, and the Prison Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC.
Akanbi, by means of distinctive feature of his place as Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom, may be the Secretary of the LPPC, the frame which confers the SAN rank on Nigerian attorneys.
Alleging persecution and non-adherence to the sub judice theory by means of Akanbi, the attorneys have forwarded petitions searching for the intervention of world prison personalities and organizations, together with the Legal professionals at Possibility Programme of the Legislation Society of England and Wales; World Legislation Phase, American Bar Affiliation, ABA; Yasmin Sooka, a human rights attorney and Government Director of the Basis for Human Rights, South Africa; Religion Odhiambo, President of the Legislation Society of Kenya, who emerged winner of the 2026 Commonwealth Legal professionals Affiliation, CLA, Rule of Legislation Award; in addition to the Commonwealth Legal professionals Affiliation, CLA, United Kingdom.
Different world prison organizations which were advised to interfere within the topic are World Observatory for Coverage of Legal professionals (Legal professionals for attorneys); Legal professionals Rights Watch, Canada; and World Bar Affiliation, IBA, Human Rights Institute.
In a petition addressed to the Legal professionals at Possibility Programme of the Legislation Society of England and Wales, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, Government Secretary of the NLS, said that Nigerian non-litigation attorneys are being subjected to persecution and harassment by means of the NBA and officers of Nigeria’s judicial establishments over the advent of the Blue Silks ranks.
Portions of the petition learn, “Our Blue Silks rank used to be supposed to supply another for non-litigation Nigerian attorneys. Then again, from the date of our advent of the mentioned Blue Silks rank of Senior Recommend of Nigeria (SCN), the officers of each the Nigerian Bar Affiliation (NBA) and the Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom of Nigeria have unleashed a vicious marketing campaign of calumny, cyberbullying and extra just lately malicious prosecution of myself and different officers of the Nigerian Legislation Society (NLS).
“On sixth October 2026, the Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom of Nigeria secured a disciplinary listening to towards myself and 13 different attorneys on the Prison Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). This disciplinary listening to is a contravention of each the Charter of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and different related rules of Nigeria as a result of since November 2025, now we have filed two proceedings towards the mentioned Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom of Nigeria. Ultimate judgments don’t seem to be but delivered in any of those two proceedings.
“I filed a number of proceedings to hunt coverage of non-litigation Nigerian attorneys to be allowed to benefit from the elementary proper to freedom of affiliation which is assured underneath Phase 40 of the Charter of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
“The officers of the Nigerian govt such because the Leader Registrar of the Very best Courtroom of Nigeria has flagrantly persisted to disclaim non-litigation Nigerian attorneys their proper to freedom of affiliation. On twenty seventh January 2026, the Hon. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal Prime Courtroom Abuja delivered a landmark judgment in our favour. Then again, the mentioned govt officers have refused to obey this judgment which has led to me to report 5 further proceedings at each the Courtroom of Attraction and the Nationwide Business Courtroom of Nigeria.”
The petition advised the world prison neighborhood to interfere within the topic by means of asking the Leader Justice of Nigeria, CJN, to forestall the alleged persecution of 14 attorneys conferred with the Blue Silks rank.
The attorneys argued that the petition towards them, forwarded to the LPDC by means of Akanbi, will have to be discontinued at the grounds that it constitutes an abuse of workplace, and in addition to being in violation of sections 36 (1), (9) and (12) of the Charter of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.