Blue Silks Dispute Deepens as Lawyers Take Fresh Action Against Supreme Court Official

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Nigerian non-litigation lawyers have petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), alleging persecution by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Kabir Akanbi, over the controversial Blue Silks rank.

The petitions were submitted by the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) and the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), following an earlier complaint filed by Akanbi before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) against the NLS Executive Secretary, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, and lawyers conferred with the Blue Silks rank.

As Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Akanbi also serves as Secretary of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), the body responsible for conferring the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on eligible lawyers.

The Blue Silks rank was introduced by ALDRAP and the NLS as an alternative recognition for non-litigation lawyers who are not covered by the existing criteria for the SAN title. However, the initiative has faced opposition from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the LPPC.

In a petition addressed to the DSS and signed by Jaja, the lawyers requested the “urgent intervention” of the agency “to prevent a potential breakdown of law and order and national security 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”.

The petitioners explained that the Supreme Court had established that once parties submit a dispute to a court for adjudication, they are expected to refrain from taking matters into their own hands while awaiting the court’s final decision. They stressed that this principle applies particularly to public office holders, who must not use their official positions to secure an unfair advantage in pending disputes.

The lawyers alleged that Akanbi had used the authority of his office to target members of ALDRAP and the NLS.

“We write to respectfully request the Director-General of the Department of State Security Services to intervene to call Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to stop the abuse of the powers conferred upon him by virtue of his office as 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 against him.

“Whenever any lawsuit is instituted against any lawyer, they are prohibited from publication of prejudicial statements before the final judgement of delivered.

“In disobedience to this hallowed principle of sub-judice, on 13th February and in July 2026, Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi in his capacity as the Secretary of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee-LPPC, published in several national newspapers prejudicial statements against Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, and the incorporated trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP).

“This is a blatant violation of both Sections 36(1), (9) and 36(12)of the Nigerian Constitution because by virtue of that publication Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi is seeking the prosecution of Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, SCN and 13 other lawyers at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) without waiting for final judgment by both the Court of Appeal Abuja Division and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria respectively.

“The major issue for determination in those lawsuits is whether Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja SCN and other lawyers, members of ALDRAP and the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), do not enjoy the fundamental rights to freedom of association to confer upon themselves the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN. This is the equivalent of Fellowship of the said ALDRAP and the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) for non-litigation lawyers,” parts of the petition read.

The petitioners further argued that, despite what they described as “prejudicial” publications by officials of the NBA and Akanbi, no Nigerian court had declared the Blue Silks rank illegal at the time the statements were published.

They also cited a judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 27, 2026, arguing that the decision had, by implication, provided support for the Blue Silks initiative.

“In the said judgment, it was stated that the NBA and by extension the LPPC could only regulate Nigerian lawyers on matters that are specifically stated inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962. This means that the NBA and LPPC can regulate the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) because it is contained within the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962,” the petition added.

The lawyers also questioned the fairness of Akanbi’s complaint against them, arguing that his position as Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court made him directly or indirectly connected to the LPDC.

In a separate petition, the lawyers called on the Public Complaints Commission to investigate what they described as administrative misconduct and injustice by Akanbi.

They requested the commission’s urgent intervention “to prevent a series 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 read, “We write to respectfully request the Public Complaints Commission to intervene to call Mr. Kabir Eniola Akanbi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to stop the abuse of the powers conferred upon him by virtue of his office as the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The petitioners stated that approximately 72 per cent of Nigeria’s 213,000 qualified lawyers were non-litigation practitioners who did not engage in full-time courtroom advocacy.

They claimed that since 1975, lawyers in this category had been excluded from applying for and receiving the SAN rank because the established eligibility criteria did not accommodate their professional roles.

According to the petition, the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria was therefore “intended to provide a compensatory scheme for non-litigation Nigerian lawyers”.

The lawyers stressed that participation in the Blue Silks scheme was voluntary and maintained that the initiative was consistent with the constitutional right to freedom of association.

They also referred to a judgment delivered by Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court in Abuja in December 2023, which they said recognised the right of Nigerian lawyers to establish professional associations under Section 40 of the Constitution.

“In December 2023, Hon. Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court Abuja delivered a judgment that stated that based upon Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, Nigerian lawyers are free to form associations of lawyers and register these by any names such as the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and this freedom of association does not in any way 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 at the Court of Appeal. Both the NBA and Mr. Akanbi are advised to await the final judgment on these matters instead of taking extra-judicial and prejudicial statements by filing petitions against some of the same persons who are litigants against them in the courts of law.”

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