Moves to introduce an alternative to the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, for Nigerian non-litigation lawyers has gained momentum following the Federal Government’s approval of a trademark certificate for the Blue Silks rank.
The Blue Silks rank was introduced by a body of Nigerian lawyers, Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, as an alternative to the covered SAN title, for non-litigation lawyers in Nigeria.
The SAN rank, conferred on lawyers by the Nigerian Bar Association’s Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, is seen as the most prestigious honour in the legal profession in Nigeria.
However, the push to institutionalize the Blue Silks rank as an alternative to the SAN title has met with strong opposition from major stakeholders in the legal profession, including the NBA.
Meanwhile, a trademark acceptance notice issued by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Commercial Law Department, seen by DAILY POST on Tuesday, noted that the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, SCN, has received certificate of approval as a trademark.
The approval was conveyed via email dated February 23, 2026, sent by Ms. Eno-obong Usen, Unit Head, Patent Office, Deputy Director/Deputy Chief Registrar, Trademarks, Patents & Designs Registry, Commercial Law Department, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Block D, Old Federal Secretariat Area 1, Abuja.
Besides opposition from the NBA, authorities in the legal sector have also kicked against the bid to introduce the Blue Silk ranks.
Recently, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, who serves as Secretary of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, said the Blue Silks rank is not recognized by the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962, and is therefore illegal.
In response to the Supreme Court registrar’s comments, the lawyers’ association behind the Blue Silk ranks, ALDRAP, forwarded a petition to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN. In the petition dated February 19, 2026, ALDRAP, through its Secretary, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, insisted that the Blue Silks rank is not under the regulation of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962. ALDRAP argued that a court had ruled that the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, can only regulate matters under the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.
The move to introduce the Blue Silks rank has sparked a number of lawsuits, some of which are still pending in court.
An Abuja Federal High Court had on January 27, 2026, ruled that the NBA, and by extension the LPPC, cannot interfere or regulate the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, SCN, or any other matters that are not specifically mentioned inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.
ALDRAP had in a suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/2547/2025, asked the Abuja Federal High Court to grant a perpetual injunction to stop the NBA from interfering in the investiture of the Blue Silks rank.
Also, in another suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/2594/2025, the Abuja Federal High Court was asked order the Nigerian President and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, to break the monopoly of the NBA in Nigeria’s legal profession.
The NBA, the umbrella association of Nigerian legal practitioners, has continued to maintain that the Blue Silks rank is illegal, but ALDRAP, consisting mostly of non-litigation, legislative drafting and advocacy lawyers, is insisting on the recognition and acceptance of the Blue Silks rank as an alternative to the SAN title.
