By Opeyemi Adelakun
Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), urging the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) to withhold the conferment of the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on the Kwara State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Sulyman Ibrahim.
In a petition dated May 25, 2026, Saraki argued that Ibrahim’s conduct in office falls below the ethical and professional standards expected of a legal practitioner seeking the country’s highest legal distinction.
The former Kwara State governor accused the attorney-general of using the criminal justice system as a political tool by initiating charges against him over the 2018 Offa bank robbery despite what he described as his earlier exoneration by the Federal Government’s Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Saraki maintained that the charges were “deliberately timed and designed to cause grave public embarrassment, inflict reputational damage and maliciously de-market me politically.”
According to him, he was never invited by the police for questioning or confronted with any allegations before the charges were filed.
“Crucially, prior to the filing of this charge, I was neither invited by the police for questioning nor confronted with any allegations whatsoever,” Saraki stated in the petition.
He added that he only became aware of the case after court processes were pasted at the gate of his residence in Ilorin, directing him to appear before the court on June 10, 2026.
Saraki said his petition is anchored on allegations of malicious prosecution, abuse of constitutional powers, frivolous criminal charges and violation of due process, insisting that Ibrahim’s actions amount to an abuse of prosecutorial authority.
“The rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria is reserved exclusively for legal practitioners who have demonstrated exemplary character, absolute fidelity to the rule of law, and an unyielding commitment to the due administration of justice,” he said.
“It must never be conferred upon a practitioner who uses state prosecutorial machinery to wage personal or political vendettas.”
The former senate president further alleged that by “weaponising the criminal justice system for ulterior motives,” the Kwara attorney-general had brought the legal profession into disrepute and lacked the impartiality expected of a law officer.
Saraki also backed the petition with an affidavit deposed to before the Kwara State High Court.
The petition follows the 20-count charge filed by the Kwara State Government in April against Saraki, former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, ex-Chief of Staff Yusuf Abdulwahab and another former aide, Alabi Olalekan, over allegations of arming suspects convicted in the Offa bank robbery case.
The LPPC recently shortlisted 89 legal practitioners for the conferment of the SAN rank. Saraki urged the committee to thoroughly scrutinise Ibrahim’s nomination before taking a final decision.
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