LPPC Releases Shortlist Of 130 Lawyers For SAN Rank

The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) has released a shortlist of 130 lawyers qualified for the award of the highly coveted Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank for 2021.
The Acting Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Hajo Bello, who doubles as the secretary of the LPPC, issued the notice on Wednesday.
She said the list comprising 95 lawyers in the advocate category and 35 in the academy category was drawn after the first stage of the appointment process.
“The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee by this notice makes an announcement on the shortlisted candidates that qualified after both the advocate filtration stages and academic pre-qualification exercise, preparatory to the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria for the year 2021,” the notice stated in part.
All qualified candidates shortlisted were “graded under the category system” of the LPPC, Ms Bello said.
The final list of the successful ones among the shortlisted candidates will be announced in October.
Ms Bello invited members of the public “to comment on the integrity, reputation and competence” of the shortlisted candidates.
All of such comments must reach the LPPC secretariat or the committee’s email not later than 4p.m. on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, she said.
The LPPC, a body chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and established to give the pretigious rank to deserving lawyers annually is domiciled at the Supreme Court.
The notice added that “any complaint (s) presented to the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee must be accompanied with a verifying affidavit deposed to before a court of record in Nigeria”.
Some of the shortlisted candidates include: the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice of Ekiti State, and Olawale Fapohunda, a prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Oyedepo.
Also on the list are, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu; a police prosecutor, Simon Lough, and lawyers with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sulayman Olawale, and Sani Mohammed.