The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) has debunked a news report by an online medium over an alleged list of successful candidates and intending Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) after second filtration exercise.
The online medium allegedly published a story with a purported list of “successful candidates” for the SANship titles.
In a statement issued and made available to Blueprint on Wednesday, the Director of Press and Information, Supreme Court, Akande Festus, asked the public to disregard any information to that effect, saying only the LPPC Secretary/ Registry of the Supreme Court can release such report.
The exercise it would be recalled is pursuant to Rule 11 of the legal practitioners Privileges Committee guidelines, 2018.
But Akande had in the statement charged the public to discountenance the information about any SANship lists.
The statement said announcement of successful applicants for award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, are published on reputable national dailies and that this year’s edition will not be an exception.
The statement partly reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a story by an online medium… with the above caption which is currently in circulation with a purported list of ‘successful candidates’ that emerged after the second filtration exercise by the LPPC.
“For the umpteenth time, we wish to let the public know that any information, especially issues regarding the above topic can only emanate from the office of the LPPC Secretary/Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Anything outside this official source should be disregarded.
” We wish to state clearly that the above information is fake, unofficial and untrue. It’s a mere figment of the imagination of the authors who may ostensibly be on a mission to impugn and malign the reputation and integrity of the LPPC with a view to causing confusion and skepticism in the public space.
“The information should be discountenanced by whosoever might have come across it. For the umpteenth time, we wish to let the public know that any information, especially issues regarding the above topic can only emanate from the office of the LPPC Secretary/Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Anything outside this official source should be disregarded.
“As has been the practice, all information concerning the LPPC, especially those bordering on the announcement of successful applicants for the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, are published in reputable national dailies and this year’s own will not be an exception. The perpetrators of such illegal act would be apprehended and given appropriate sanctions to serve as deterrent to others that might be waiting in the queue to do same in the future.
“The LPPC secretariat wishes to appeal to bloggers of various lawyers’ platforms to henceforth refrain from posting or publishing or aiding in the circulation of unauthorised materials or fake documents said to originate from Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee. The Committee may be forced to refer the conduct of such bloggers who are legal practitioners to the appropriate disciplinary committee of Body of Benchers. A word is enough for the wise.”
Akande thereafter assured the esteemed legal community and the general public that the authentic official list of the successful applicants that emerged from the second filtration exercise by the LPPC will be made public through advertorials on national dailies in due course.
