Chuks Okocha in Abuja
FFormer Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has petitioned Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, over the planned conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on Kwara State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Sulyman Ibrahim.
The CJN chairs the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), the body responsible for conferring the SAN rank.
In a petition dated May 25, 2026, and seen by THISDAY, Saraki said Ibrahim’s official conduct “completely falls short of the high standard of integrity, honour, and professional ethics required of any practitioner worthy of being elevated to the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria”.
The former senate president alleged that the Kwara State attorney-general brought the legal profession into “disrepute” by preferring or causing to be preferred, charges that “he knows or ought to have known have no basis in law and were merely designed as a political weapon against me”.
Saraki said his petition ws premised on two grounds — malicious prosecution and abuse of constitutional powers, and frivolous penal code charge and violation of due process.
The former Kwara State governor said despite being cleared by the federal government’s Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over the 2018 Offa robbery, Ibrahim filed charges against him and two others.
Saraki said the charges were “deliberately timed and designed to cause grave public embarrassment, inflict reputational damage, and maliciously de-market me politically”.
He added, “Crucially, prior to the filing of this charge, I was neither invited by the police for questioning nor confronted with any allegations whatsoever.
“I only became aware of the proceedings when the court processes were pasted on the gate at my residence in Ilorin, commanding my appearance in court on June 10, 2026.
“It is against this backdrop, and the applicant’s recurrent instances of gross abuse of power, that I respectfully urge you to thoroughly scrutinise his candidacy and consider his suitability before conferring such a revered privilege upon him.”
Saraki stated, “The rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria is reserved exclusively for legal practitioners who have demonstrated exemplary character, absolute fidelity to the rule of law, and an unyielding commitment to the due administration of justice.
“It must never be conferred upon a practitioner who uses state prosecutorial machinery to wage personal or political vendettas.”
