The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) announced on Thursday that it had approved the appointment of 87 senior lawyers to the esteemed rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
A statement by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court and Secretary of the LPPC, Hajo Sarki Bello, confirmed that the committee, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, approved the appointments at its 160th plenary session held in Abuja.
Top on this yearâs list is Dr. Charles Ayodeji Adeogun-Phillips, the renowned international lawyer and former genocide prosecutor.
He led 12 precedent-setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, wherein he obtained 12 genocide convictions against 13 defendants.
Adeogun-Phillips is widely regarded as one of the leading and most experienced international criminal lawyers in the world.
His case in defence of the Tanzanian politician, Christopher Mtikila, before the African Court of Human and Peoplesâ Rights in 2014, which resulted in amendments to Tanzaniaâs electoral laws to allow for independent candidacy for election to public office, is also regarded as a watershed and landmark human rights case in Africa.
Adeogun-Phillips, who was recognised in the Whoâs Who in Public International Law in 2001 and 2022, was honoured with an LL.D by the prestigious University of Warwick, in recognition of his pioneering contribution to the development of international criminal law.
In 2016, Adeogun-Phillips was appointed by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to lead the unprecedented corruption investigations and trials of several senior judicial officers in Nigeria from which he publicly withdrew in February 2017, having alleged undue political interference in his work. Between 2021 and 2023, he acted as investigation counsel in the $11.3 billion FRN vs. P&ID case, the largest civil fraud case ever to be litigated before an English commercial court.
The only child of a former commercial and industrial law professor at the University of Lagos, he is currently the lead counsel at Charles Anthony Lawyers, a cross-border law practice that he founded in Lagos and Abuja in 2010. He also practices as a barrister from Guernica 37 (International law) Chambers 6 Pump Court, London. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Boston-based International NGO, Integrity Initiatives International (III), advocating for the establishment of an International Anti-Corruption Court.
Others chosen from the advocate category are former Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Monday Ubani; a senior prosecuting lawyer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ekele Iheanacho; the son of a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Akin Olujinmi (SAN), Akinyemi Oluwole Olujinmi; an Abuja-based lawyer, Baba Fika Dalah; and a commercial law expert, Chukwudi Enebeli.
The statement added: âThe rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is awarded as a mark of excellence to members of the legal profession who have distinguished themselves as advocates and academics.
âThe meeting further considered five different petitions written against some of the applicants and determined that each of the petitions lacked merit and thus dismissed.
âThe swearing-in ceremony of the 87 successful applicants is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 30, 2024.â
