On behalf of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS, I am directed to inform the general public above named subject-matter.
I have sent out a letter of invitation and MoU addressed to the President of the Ghana Law Society-GLS.
The Governing Council of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS at it's last meeting held on 2nd October 2026 has decided that the next President of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS should be a female. In accordance with the Constitution, the election would be by way of election by members of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS acting as an Electoral College.
After the election by the Electoral College, the winner would be announced and sworn in during the planned annual general conference of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS which is due to hold on 4th and 5th November 2026 at the Top Rank Hotel Utako Abuja Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria
As you may know, the Nigerian Law Society-NLS received its certificate of registration dated 30th December 2025 as the umbrella organisation for non-litigation Nigerian lawyers. We are not in competition against the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA.
All candidates are required to kindly submit their written confirmation and their CV to the official email address of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS on or before Friday 9th October 2026.
So far the candidates are as follows (in no particular order:
1. Prof. (Mrs.) Obraori Adiela, SCN, Faculty of Law, Rivers State University;
2. Her Excellency, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, Esq., former Deputy Governor of Enugu State of Nigeria;
3. Dame Joyce Oduah, Council Member, Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), former General-Secretary, NBA;
4. Dr. (Mrs.) Grace Dafiel, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Thomas Adewumi University. Acting Dean, Directorate of Student Affairs.
The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA, Chief Ebele Nwokoye', SCN has recently been conferred with the said Blue Silks SCN,which is the equivalent of Fellowship of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS, it is reported online at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/09/ex-nba-president-nwokoye-conferred-with-blue-silk-rank/amp/
The Nigerian Law Society-NLS has recently been accepted as an institutional member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association-CLA.
Hon. Justice Malcolm Simmons a judge of the Supreme Court of the Falkland Islands is the Chair of the Panel of Judges that assesses and confers the said Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN on behalf of the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON) which is also a registered organisation that received its certificate of registration dated 30th December 2025.
We thank you in advance for your anticipated prompt and positive response.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja SCN,
Executive Director of the Nigerian Law Society-NLS
Former Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Justice).
ADDENDUM:
BOSCON received it's certificate of registration dated 30th December
2025 from the Corporate Affairs Commission-CAC and SMEDAN and it screens
candidates seeking the Blue Silks-SCN rank which is the rank of legal
excellence for non-litigation Nigerian lawyers.
The criteria is that such candidates must submit not less than 35
verifiable non-litigation transactions as well as holding a Bachelor of
Laws-LLB degree for not less than ten years.
The Blue Silks-SCN is unlike the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria-SAN
whose major criteria is submission of evidence of courtroom litigation
by candidates.
The major categories of the Blue Silks-SCN are:
1. Senior Legislative Counsel-SLC;
2. Senior Legal Academic-SLA;
3. Senior Corporate Counsel-SCC; and
4. Senior Law Reform Counsel-SLRC.
The conferment of the Blue Silks-SCN upon the former President of the
NBA, Chief Nwokoye is a significant victory considering that the
immediate past leadership of the NBA launched an unsuccessful attack
against the Blue Silks-SCN at its inception in the year 2025.
The second part of the victory is that the time prescribed for the
Nigerian Bar Association-NBA to file it's appeal has elapsed and the NBA
has failed to file any appeal against the said judgment which validates
the Blue Silks-SCN.
The said judgment was delivered on 27th January 2026 by Hon. Justice
Mohammed Umar Garba of the Federal High Court Abuja, Suit Number:
FHC/ABJ/CS/1238/2025.
The said judgment prohibited the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA and by
extension the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee-LPPC from
attempting to regulate the Blue Silks rank-SCN and any other matters
that were not expressly mentioned inside the Legal Practitioners Act,
1962.
The Nigerian Bar Association-NBA who were parties in the said lawsuit
failed to appeal against that judgment.
THEREFORE, IT REMAINS THE BINDING JUDGMENT.
Therefore, the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria-SCN which
was introduced as an alternative to the rank of Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) is a legally recognised route of ranking of legal excellence for
non-litigation Nigerian lawyers.
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