Once upon a time, being a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)—a member of Nigeria’s elite Inner Bar—was a badge of honour earned through merit and integrity. Today, it too often appears to function as a shield of impunity: an elite club that protects its own from accountability. 

We have watched in dismay as this exalted rank has devolved into a self-protecting clique. When one of their own falls short of professional standards, the ranks close around the offender. Publicly, the legal profession makes the right noises about discipline; behind closed doors, however, the old-boys’ club works overtime to ensure that erring ‘old-boys’ face no consequences.

Soiled Silk Robes: The un-SAN-itary scandals of the Inner Bar

Michael Aondoakaa was not only a SAN; he was also a federal attorney-general. He represents one of the most notorious examples of rot within the Inner Bar. In a brazen abuse of public office, he actively undermined binding court judgments arising from a disputed 2007 national legislative election. Aondoakaa wrote letters to the judiciary and the legislature, urging them to disregard court orders and stall the swearing-in of an election’s rightful winner.

The Court of Appeal condemned his conduct in the strongest terms, describing it as “a most sordid low” in the administration of justice in Nigeria. In a scathing rebuke, the court questioned his fitness for public office and even invited the Bar to discipline him. His SAN rank was suspended for and restored after two years. Aondoakaa continues to wear his soiled silk robe, with the letters “SAN” trailing his name—a constant reminder of the rot within the Inner Bar.

Consider another scandal. Adekunbi Ogunde – not herself a SAN, but a partner in the firm of Wole Olanipekun, a revered SAN and at the time chairman of the Body of Benchers. She embarked on a brazen attempt to poach a corporate client of another law firm. In a now-infamous letter, she boasted that her principal, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, as “the head of the entire legal profession in Nigeria”, could significantly influence judicial outcomes in their favour. Disturbingly, Ms Ogunde was not bluffing. She was articulating an uncomfortable truth – one that many within the Nigerian legal profession have long known, but rarely said aloud.

When the letter leaked, it ignited public outrage. Although Chief Olanipekun, SAN, publicly disassociated himself from the scandal, he refused the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) call to step aside from his exalted position as Chairman of the Body of Benchers to allow a fair investigation.

Although Ms Ogunde was disciplined and her law licence withdrawn, no investigation followed into her SAN principal’s alleged influence over judges or his purported ability to deploy undue influence to significantly sway judicial outcomes in favour of clients. In other words, one of the Inner Bar’s most powerful figures emerged untouched. The clique, indeed, protects its own.

There was a time when the SAN title signified unimpeachable integrity. Today, for some, the rank has become leverage—used to intimidate judges, poach lucrative clients from fellow lawyers, and bend the arc of justice to serve private clients. Wealthy litigants now scramble to retain SANs not merely for legal acumen, but for their perceived connections in the judiciary. A rank once meant to honour professional excellence has, for some, become a tool for tilting the scales of justice.

Some SANs engage in unethical conduct, emboldened by the belief that their elevated status would shield them. We have seen SANs steal client funds, fabricate court documents, engage in fraudulent service of court processes and even bribe judges. A few have faced consequences, but far too many have escaped consequences or received a perfunctory slap on the wrist.

Even when disciplinary bodies decide to act, the Inner Bar often finds a way to shield its own. In 2018, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) – the body responsible for conferring SAN rank—withdrew the title from Kunle Ogunba for abuse of court process, sending shockwaves through the profession as a rare rebuke of one of its elite. Months later, in a startling reversal, Mr Ogunba’s rank was restored, and he was admonished to conduct his cases “in the best tradition of the legal profession”. The message was clear—even when caught, an old ‘boy’ can always find his way back into the clique.

We witnessed Beluolisa Nwofor, SAN, berate appellate court judges in open court and file frivolous appeals—conduct so ‘unbecoming of a SAN’ that the Court of Appeal itself petitioned for his discipline. His SAN rank was withdrawn in 2017, only to be restored in 2021. 

We have also seen other high-ranking lawyers wriggle off the hook. Recall the infamous Joseph Nwobike, SAN, convicted in 2018 for bribing court officials to assign cases to friendly judges? 

The LPPC moved to strip him of his SAN rank, but years later, his conviction was set aside on appeal on a technical ground. Similarly, Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN, was found to have engaged in corrupt communications with a tribunal judge during an election petition; the judge was dismissed for corruption, yet Kalejaiye’s sanction was later undone on technical grounds, allowing him to retain his SANship.

Perhaps the most brazen episode in recent times involving the Inner Bar emerged from a London tribunal case concerning Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, in which he was alleged to have engaged in identity fraud and perjury in connection with a fraudulent property transfer.

The erosion of integrity among some SANs is not an isolated blight; it is a symptom of a deeper, systemic rot. From Aondoakaa’s subversion of justice, to Olanipekun’s influence-peddling letter, to Ozekhome’s London property transfer fraud, these episodes – distinct as they are – all point to one truth: the Inner Bar in Nigeria has failed to police itself. 

The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN)—that exclusive fraternity of silks—has zealously guarded its prestige while doing far too little to enforce ethical discipline within its own ranks.

The cleansing of the profession must begin with the Inner Bar. If the SAN rank now translates to “Senior Advocate of No-Consequence” for misconduct, as Chidi Odinkalu aptly coined it, then consequence must be restored. The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee and the Body of Benchers must stop tiptoeing around the misconduct of the Inner Bar and begin holding it to account.

How the Outer Bar can reclaim the profession’s honour

Perhaps the most painful consequence of this rot is the silence it imposes on the Outer Bar. Outer Bar lawyers quickly learn the unwritten code: do not cross the SANs; do not speak out against misconduct by Senior Advocates. The consequences of breaking the omertà—exclusion from the networks that matter and the foreclosure of future opportunities, including the possibility of elevation to the rank of SAN. 

The Inner Bar holds the keys to many doors—appointments, recommendations, the lucrative briefs—and it will not hesitate to lock those doors against anyone who threatens its comfortable fortress. In this climate of fear, egregious ethical violations by SANs are silenced.

To the Outer Bar lawyers who still believe in the ideals of this profession, I implore you to find your voice. You must shed the shackles of fear that have silenced you. This is your profession – do not underestimate your power. If you refuse, en masse, to tolerate unethical conduct of SANs; if you insist—openly and unapologetically—that the NBA hold erring SANs to account, the culture of impunity will change. 

Yes, it will be difficult. There will be resistance, and there may be threats. But there is safety in numbers and strength in solidarity. Senior Advocates may retaliate against one or two voices; they cannot silence a determined multitude.

Begin by asking the NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, how he’s addressing the rot in the Inner Bar. To date, he has issued no public statement regarding the international embarrassment by Chief Ozekhome, SAN. I have petitioned the NBA to initiate disciplinary proceedings in that matter. Despite repeated follow-ups, Mr. Osigwe, SAN could not even acknowledge the receipt of that petition. There was a time when the Bar was led by an un-SANed president. Under Olumide Akpata, the NBA confronted the Olanipekun scandal with the courage it demanded. This should remind the Outer Bar that leadership, like courage, is not conferred by silk but earned by action.

I note that not every SAN has lost his or her conscience. There remain many respected SANs who are genuinely horrified by what the rank has come to represent. To these SANs, I implore you to step forward and cleanse your own rank from within.

The era of silence, deference, and selective blindness must come to an end. To the Inner Bar: status shall no longer immunise misconduct; silk shall no longer shield un-SAN-itary shame; and title shall no longer excuse the subversion of justice. To the Outer Bar: shed your silence and reclaim the moral authority of your profession. Let’s reclaim the integrity of the Nigerian legal profession.

Gideon Christian is a professor of ethics at the Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Canada. He is the recipient of the 2026 CBA (Alberta) and Law Society of Alberta Distinguished Service Award. His website: www.gideonchristian.ai