BY ROTIMI DUROJAIYE
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Supreme Court of Nigeria is scheduled to unveil today, October 21, 2021, a new set of Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
The Point gathered their introduction is coming after four months of suspense and following the final ratification of the selected applicants into the prestigious rank by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee.
The successful candidates in the keenly contested exercise are to be made public at the Supreme Court Complex this evening by the acting Chief Registrar of the apex court, Hajo Sarki-Bello, who also doubles as the Secretary of the LPPC.
Dependable sources have it that Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, who has been keeping the list of the successful candidates to his chest to avoid possible leakage, has eventually given the go ahead for the unveiling of the lucky new silks.
The Point gathered that a total of 95 shortlisted applicants were subjected to rigorous oral interviews between October 18 and 20.
The interview was carefully conducted by some retired Justices of the Supreme Court along with some senior lawyers.
The interview which was held at the main Supreme Court Foyer was “Pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee Guidelines 2018.”
It was the final preparation for the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, for the year 2021.
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, Rotimi Oyedepo.
Also on the list are, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu; a police prosecutor, Simon Lough, and lawyers with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Sulayman Olawale, and Sani Mohammed
Last month, the LPPC released a shortlist of 130 lawyers qualified for the award of the highly coveted Senior Advocate of Nigeria rank for 2021.
Hajo Bello, the Acting Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, 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, Bello said.
“The final list of the successful ones among the shortlisted candidates will be announced in October,” she had notified.
Bello had invited members of the public “to comment on the integrity, reputation and competence” of the shortlisted candidates.
All of such comments were expected to 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 and established to give the prestigious 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.”
