BY VICTOR BUORO – The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Monday ushered 68 legal practitioners into the inner bar, officially swearing them in as Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).
The elite elevation marked the ceremonial kickoff of the 2026/2027 Legal Year and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which captured the milestone moments in a breaking update on its official X handle, released a visual reel of images and video from the high-profile ceremony where the elite inductees took their oaths.
This induction seals an exhaustive selection process that concluded three months ago when the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) cleared the 68 nominees for Nigeria’s highest legal rank.
It was reliably learnt that the final stamp of approval was delivered during the Committee’s 174th plenary session, presided over by Kekere-Ekun herself.
Confirmation of the latest development also came from a statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) and Secretary of the LPPC, Kabir Eniola, indicating that the new SANs comprise 67 advocates and one academic, Professor Nnamdi Onyeka Obiaraeri,
Offering an insight on the lone academic among the Silk, Bar insiders revealed that Professor Nnamdi Onyeka Obiaraeri secured his place in this year’s prestigious batch of 68 new SANs strictly on the strength of his towering contributions to legal scholarship. As the sole academic voice in the massive pool of 68 inductees, Obiaraeri has proved that ink and classroom rigor can command just as much respect as courtroom battles. [
Considered as the peak of Nigeria’s legal architecture, the rank of SAN remains the ultimate badge of honor, reserved exclusively for practitioners who hit the highest benchmarks of excellence. Importantly, the title is earned either through fierce, high-stakes advocacy at the Bar or through profound, game-changing contributions to legal academia.
However, before the final conferment of the prestigious title, the LPPC “stipulated that successful applicants must participate in and complete a mandatory induction programme, with the date to be announced later.”
Also reminding the newly elevated SANs to comply with paragraph 25(1) of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Guidelines and Rule 39(3) of the Rules of Professional Conduct, 2023, the Committee warned against “publishing or encouraging advertisements, congratulatory messages or goodwill notices concerning their nomination or conferment, adding that violations could attract sanctions.”
