ADC Crisis Deepens as Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice Lifu Seek Dismissal of Bias Sui

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Justice Peter Lifu have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed against them by an official of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nkemakolam Ukandu, over allegations of judicial bias and abuse of office.

The two judges, through their counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), J.U.K. Igwe, made the request on Monday before Justice Salim Ibrahim during proceedings in the matter.

Igwe informed the court that the defendants had filed a joint preliminary objection challenging the suit, alongside a joint statement of defence. He also questioned the propriety of the action, expressing surprise that a legal practitioner would institute such a case against serving judicial officers.

Ukandu, who serves as the ADC’s National Welfare Secretary, had dragged the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Tsoho and Justice Lifu before the court, alleging disobedience to court orders and seeking an investigation into claims of corruption and abuse of judicial authority.

He is asking the court to compel the NJC to probe the conduct of the two judges in relation to ongoing litigation involving the party’s leadership crisis.

When the matter came up for hearing, neither Ukandu nor representatives of the NJC were present in court.

Justice Ibrahim, however, sought confirmation that hearing notices had been served on all parties. After the court registrar confirmed that proof of service was contained in the case file, the judge stressed the importance of ensuring all parties are properly notified of proceedings.

“I want to see the proof of service of the hearing notice because I personally directed that all parties be duly served,” the judge said, directing court officials to ensure prompt service of all future notices.

Counsel to the judges informed the court that the preliminary objection, conditional appearance and statement of defence had been filed on June 19 and requested a date for the hearing of the objection.

However, Justice Ibrahim observed that the filed processes were not yet contained in the court file and subsequently adjourned the matter until June 30 for mention.

The court also ordered that all filed processes and hearing notices be served on the plaintiff and the NJC before the next adjourned date.

Suit Linked to ADC Leadership Battle

The suit stems from the protracted leadership dispute within the ADC involving a party member, Nafiu Bala Gombe, whose case is currently before Justice Lifu.

Gombe is challenging the emergence of former Senate President David Mark as the party’s Interim National Chairman and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as Interim National Secretary.

In the substantive suit, Gombe contends that the appointments of both men contravene the provisions of the ADC constitution.

The matter was initially assigned to Justice Emeka Nwite before making its way to the Supreme Court and later returning to the Federal High Court, where it was reassigned to Justice Lifu.

Ukandu had sought to be joined as a party in the leadership dispute through an application filed by his lawyer, Kalu Agu. Following the rejection of that application, he accused Justices Tsoho and Lifu of bias and acting contrary to the interests of the party.

He specifically faulted Justice Tsoho for reassigning the case to Justice Lifu after it was withdrawn from Justice Nwite, arguing that the move allegedly disregarded orders of the Supreme Court and previous directives issued by Justice Nwite.

The development comes amid heightened tensions within the ADC, where multiple court actions have emerged over the party’s leadership structure following recent political realignments.

In a related development, Justice Lifu recently imposed a fine of N500,000 each on the ADC and its Interim National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, after dismissing an application seeking his recusal from the case.

The leadership dispute is expected to return before the court as legal battles over the future direction of the opposition party continue.