Saraki petitions against Kwara AG's SAN nomination over alleged abuse of power

Former Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki has lodged a petition with the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), urging them to reject the nomination of Kwara State's Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Sulyman Ibrahim, for the prestigious Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank. Saraki alleges that Ibrahim has repeatedly abused his office's prosecutorial powers to pursue criminal cases that are politically motivated against him.

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My Lord, since the conclusion of the definitive 2018 investigation, the Nigeria Police Force has neither reopened the case nor conducted any fresh inquiry indicting me or the other co-defendants.

In his petition, dated May 25 and supported by an affidavit sworn on July 9, Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, detailed two instances where he claims Ibrahim maliciously initiated prosecutions against him this year. One case involves charges Saraki describes as "trumped-up" related to the concluded 2018 Offa robbery incident. Saraki asserts that the Nigeria Police Force had previously investigated, prosecuted, and secured convictions for the robbery suspects, clearing him of any involvement.

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not for the promotion of justice, but a political weapon.

Saraki further contends that Ibrahim charged him under the Penal Code for a social media post questioning the completion of the current Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq's secondary education. Saraki finds it legally unfathomable that such remarks could constitute a breach of peace as alleged in the charges. He argues that Ibrahim is using the "sacred, constitutional powers of the Office of the Attorney General" not for justice, but as a "political weapon."

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I state categorically that the attitude, official conduct and apparent professional desperation of the applicant, Senior Sulyman Ibrahim, Esq, (the current Attorney General of Kwara State), completely fall short of the high standard of integrity, honour, and professional ethics.

Saraki's petition follows the LPPC's publication of shortlisted candidates for the 2026 SAN conferment and its call for public objections regarding nominees' integrity and professional conduct. Saraki explicitly states that Ibrahim's actions fall short of the high standards of integrity and professional ethics expected of a Senior Advocate, bringing the Nigerian Bar into disrepute by preferring charges he knows or ought to know have no legal basis and are merely political tools.

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Further, by his conduct, Senior Sulyman Ibrahim, Esq, has brought the Nigerian Bar into disrepute in that he preferred, or caused to be preferred, charges whcih he knows or ought to know have no basis in law and were merely designed as political weapon against me.