The Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) are at loggerheads over the conferment of a new legal rank called ‘Blue Silk’.
The NLS, an independent body of lawyers, has faulted the NBA for opposing its plan to award the Blue Silk rank to deserving legal practitioners.
In a statement on Friday, the NLS, alongside its affiliate, the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON), said it has the right to confer the title on willing and qualified lawyers.
This comes after the NBA and the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) rejected the ‘Blue Silk’ title. They described it as an illegal alternative to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
At a meeting on February 12, the LPPC said it would take steps to protect the SAN rank, which it described as the highest professional distinction for lawyers in Nigeria. The committee also warned that using ‘Blue Silk’ could violate the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2023.
The NBA leadership also distanced itself from the rank, calling it illegal.
But NLS President, Ambassador Dahiru Aliyu, insisted that the NBA has no authority to interfere in the affairs of the NLS.
He argued that just as the NBA declared that it has the autonomy to conduct its election without interference from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), both the NLS and BOSCON also have the autonomy to confer the Blue Silk rank without interference.
“The Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON) declare their autonomy to conduct their internal affairs, such as the conferment of the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) upon its own members, without interference from outsiders, just as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) declared its autonomy to conduct its election without interference from the Hon. AGF.
“The joint leadership of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON), which are duly registered organisations with certificates of registration dated 30th December 2025, deems it necessary to issue this press statement to notify the general public as follows:
“The conferment of the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) upon members of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) is 100% an internal affair of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), using the criteria of 35 verifiable non-litigation transactions as assessed by the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON).
“None of the candidates is coerced into applying for the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN); each candidate submits an application of their own voluntary, free will and pays the prescribed fees out of firm conviction that the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) is a credible rank of legal excellence for non-litigation Nigerian lawyers.
“The applicants, by payment of the requisite application fees, appending of their signatures, and taking the oath during the conferment ceremony, agree to abide by the Rules and Regulations of both the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON), the said Rules and Regulations made pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, and the SMEDAN Act, 2003, respectively.
“Just as the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has, by its press statement of 8th July 2026, declared its autonomy and stated that only the leadership and its Board of Trustees have the right to govern its internal affairs, the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON) hereby notify the general public that no individual, government official, or institution shall henceforth issue any publication with the intention of interfering with its conferment of the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN).
“The Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) is an internal affair of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) and BOSCON, as it is not mentioned in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962.
“In accordance with the judgment of the Hon. Mohammed Garba Umar, delivered on 27th January 2026, neither the NBA nor the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), nor any other person (individual or juristic), has the right or authority to interfere with the said conferment of the Blue Silk rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN),” he added.