Ignore Justice James Omotosho, LPPC, We’ll Award ‘SCN’ To Nigerian Lawyers In Abuja Nov 5-Tonye Jaja

Executive Director of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja submitted on Tuesday that there is no going back in respect of the planned award of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) to some lawyers in the country while picking holes in Justice James Omotosho’s decision on the issue and the press statement issued by the LPPC on February 12, 2026, claiming that the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN does not enjoy statutory backing (especially of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962) and should therefore be disregarded by Nigerian lawyers.

In a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com  on Tuesday, Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja also gave his take on the recent pronouncement by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in respect of the use of the title of ‘Barrister’ by the lawyers while noting that recent judicial precedent limiting regulatory bodies from imposing rules or titles are not expressly stated in the Legal Practitioners Act of 1962.

‘Sometime in July 2026, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria announced that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) has placed a ban on the use of the title of ‘Barrister’ by Nigerian lawyers as a prefix in all their official correspondences with the apex court.

The reasoning is that the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962, recognizes the titles of Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria upon all Nigerian lawyers who had been successfully called to the Bar.

Therefore, using Barrister as a title, is a half-truth that leaves out the title of ‘Solicitor’.

As an alternative title, the title of ‘Esquire’ or its abbreviated version ‘Esq.’ was to be used as the appropriate suffix by Nigerian lawyers in their official correspondences to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The problem with this recommended title of ‘Esquire’, or even other alternatives ‘Barrister-At-Law’ or ‘Attorney-At-Law’ is that they do not appear in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.

And the current rules of law is that neither the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee-LPPC nor the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA can regulate or impose upon Nigerian lawyers any matter that is not expressly stated in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962. 

This is the essence of the judgment delivered by the Hon. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja on 27th January 2026.

This brings us to the flawed reasoning of both Hon. Justice James Omotosho and the LPPC by its Press Statement dated 12th February 2026 to the effect or insinuation that the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN does not enjoy statutory backing (especially of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962) and should therefore be disregarded by Nigerian lawyers’ he said.

That was not all, he also provided supporting facts to prove that such line of reasoning is unreasonable. .

‘The reasoning in question is flawed on two grounds:

1. The Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN is not stated in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962, this is the more reason why neither the NBA nor the LPPC has any powers of regulation over the Blue Silks rank with regard to the judgment of Hon. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court Abuja; and

2. It is an act of contradiction and hypocrisy for both the CJN, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to impose a ban on the use of the title of ‘Barrister’ that is explicitly listed and featured in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962 and replace it with alternatives that are not explicitly stated in any statutes.

Another level of the hypocrisy and contradiction which is manifestly discriminatory in violation of Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 is for the CJN, LPPC to permit Nigerian lawyers to use some titles (such as ‘Esquire’ for example) that do not appear in any statutes but attempts to ban the use of others (such as the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN).

Let me conclude by placing it on record that the rank of King’s Counsel (KC) which Nigeria inherited and adopted in the year 1975 as the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is not established by any statute or legislation. It was established in the 1500s as a tradition wherein the King confers the rank on outstanding lawyers, the first being Francis Bacon.

Also, the ranks and titles of Parliamentary Agents which the Parliament of the United Kingdom confers upon lawyers and law firms who draft Private Member Bills and provide legal services to Members of Parliament (MPs) which was instituted in the year 1869 was not established by statue or an Act of Parliament.

The lesson is clear, not all titles used by lawyers are established directly by statue.

The Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN which is awarded to lawyers by the Nigerian Law Society-NLS and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON) is not directly established by statue but by guidelines established pursuant to Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 19 of the National Assembly Service Commission Act, 2014.

In addition, as a member-in-view of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association-CLA, the Nigerian Law Society-NLS title of Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN possess the inherent powers to confer the said Blue Silks rank upon its members who satisfy the criteria’ he said.

Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, who disclosed that senior members of the Council of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association-CLA will serve as members of the panel that will screen candidates seeking to be awarded SCN this year, added that Hon. Justice Malcolm Simmons, a judge of the Supreme Court of Falkland Islands, will head the committee.

‘The conferment ceremony is slated to hold during the annual general conference of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS between November 4 and November 5, 2026 at Top Rank Hotel, Utako, Abuja Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nigeria.

We look forward to welcoming all open-minded Nigerian lawyers’ he submitted-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079,  08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you