The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, NICN, have been asked to quash the suspension of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, rank of a constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Commission, LPPC.
The decision to suspend Ozekhome’s SAN rank was taken at the 173rd general meeting of the LPPC, held on June 23, 2026.
The LPPC, in a statement signed by its Secretary and Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Kabir Akanbi, said the decision was taken in order to safeguard the integrity, dignity and prestige of the SAN rank. The statement added that the action was taken in line with Paragraph 26(6) of the Guidelines for the Conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all Matters Pertaining to the Rank, pending the final determination of disciplinary proceedings presently before the Disciplinary and Ethics Sub-Committee of the LPPC.
However, an association of Nigerian lawyers, the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, which had earlier asked the LPPC to withdraw the suspension on the grounds that the action was sub-judice as it relates to issues that are subject to pending litigation, has approached the ECOWAS Court of Justice and the National Industrial Court to challenge the decision.
In the suit which has Federal Republic of Nigeria and Ozekhome as 1st and 2nd respondents, the plaintiff, ALDRAP, asked the ECOWAS Court of Justice to declare that the
