Lawyers Challenge LPDC Petition Against Blue Silks Rank in Abuja Courts

Nigerian non-litigation lawyers have filed separate suits at the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Abuja, challenging a petition against the Blue Silks rank submitted to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) by Supreme Court Chief Registrar Kabir Akanbi.

The lawyers, operating under the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting Practitioners (ALDRAP), alongside Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, are seeking judicial orders to stop the LPDC from proceeding with the petition.

In the suit filed at the National Industrial Court, numbered NICN/ABJ/363/2026, the plaintiffs listed the LPDC, the Body of Benchers, Akanbi and the Federal Judicial Service Commission as respondents.

They asked the court to declare the LPDC’s decision to accept and entertain Akanbi’s petition, including its order for substituted service, unconstitutional, unlawful and void. They argued that the decision violated Sections 36(6), 36(9) and 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Rules 32 and 33 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, 2023.

The plaintiffs also challenged what they described as the absence of an appellate mechanism within the LPDC, arguing that it violated constitutional provisions on fair hearing and due process. They cited a judgment in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1954/2024, which they said was delivered on September 28, 2026.