The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) has suspended prominent constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, from using the prestigious Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) title pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him.
Newsonspot reports that the decision was reached at the LPPC’s 173rd General Meeting held on June 23, 2026, according to a statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court and Secretary of the committee, Kabir Akanbi.
The committee explained that the suspension was approved in accordance with Paragraph 26(6) of the Guidelines for the Conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and related matters. As a result, Ozekhome will be barred from using the SAN designation until disciplinary proceedings before the LPPC’s Disciplinary and Ethics Sub-Committee are concluded and all related issues are resolved.
“The suspension shall remain in force pending the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings and any other related matters before the appropriate bodies,” the committee stated.
Although the LPPC did not disclose the specific allegations behind its decision, the development comes amid ongoing legal controversies involving the senior lawyer over alleged document forgery linked to a disputed property in the United Kingdom.
Earlier in January 2026, the filed charges against Ozekhome, accusing him of presenting forged documents, including a Nigerian passport, during proceedings concerning the ownership of a London property. The case was later taken over by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, after which the charges were withdrawn and struck out by a court in Abuja in February.
However, the matter resurfaced in March when a prosecution witness told an Abuja High Court that a Nigerian passport bearing the name “Tali Shani,” tendered in the disputed property case involving Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni, could not be found in the database of the .
The witness, Aridegbe Akim, testified that the passport number in question had no corresponding record within the immigration service’s database following a verification request from the .
According to the witness, investigations revealed that the passport was not authentic. He further explained that genuine Nigerian passports undergo a strict verification process, including online application, National Identification Number verification, biometric capture and official production, procedures that were allegedly absent in the disputed document.
Prosecutors allege that Ozekhome and his co-defendant forged several documents, including an international passport and an irrevocable power of attorney, in an attempt to establish ownership of a London property reportedly linked to the late . Both defendants have denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
During earlier proceedings, Justice Chizoba Oji admitted several documents presented by the prosecution, including correspondence between the EFCC and NIS, as well as both the genuine and disputed passports. The matter was subsequently adjourned for further hearing.
Ozekhome, a respected human rights advocate and constitutional lawyer, was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1997 and has long been regarded as one of Nigeria’s most influential legal figures.
The LPPC, chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, remains the statutory body responsible for the conferment, regulation and discipline of SAN title holders, the highest professional distinction in Nigeria’s legal profession.
