Firdaus Obiremi
The African Democratic Congress has petitioned the National Judicial Council, asking it to investigate two Federal High Court judges over the handling and transfer of a suit arising from the party’s lingering leadership crisis.
The party’s Presidential Campaign Council accused the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Justice Peter Lifu of actions it claimed raised questions about judicial impartiality in the leadership dispute.
The ADC, in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Director of Strategic Communications, Phrank Shaibu, alleged that Tsoho reassigned the case from Justice Emeka Nwite to Lifu barely 24 hours after receiving a formal protest from the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.
Shaibu said the reassignment was troubling because Nwite had already commenced hearing the matter and had not withdrawn from the case.
He argued that the decision to transfer the suit to Lifu, who had earlier delivered a judgment against the David Mark-led leadership, created an appearance of bias and raised concerns about the fairness of the judicial process.
The ADC spokesperson called on the NJC to examine the circumstances surrounding the reassignment, the protest submitted by Aregbesola and the conduct of the proceedings before Lifu.
According to him, the plaintiff had initially sought the transfer of the case from Nwite, citing delays and a lack of confidence in obtaining an expeditious hearing.
However, he said the ADC’s legal team challenged the application on May 11, 2026, pointing to previous adjournments and disputing claims about the party’s responsibility for the delays.
Shaibu said the party’s lawyers described the application as an attempt at forum shopping.
He added that Aregbesola subsequently wrote to Tsoho on June 2, formally protesting the reassignment and requesting that it be reversed because the party lacked confidence in Lifu’s impartiality.
Despite the protest, the case was assigned to Lifu the following day.
“The sequence and timing of this transfer raise grave concerns about bias and create an appearance that the process was not handled with the impartiality this matter demanded,” Shaibu said.
He challenged the Federal High Court Chief Judge to explain why the party’s protest was not considered before the reassignment.
The ADC also questioned Lifu’s handling of another suit in which he reportedly ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister the party alongside four others.
Shaibu alleged that the judge proceeded to deliver judgment despite an order by the Court of Appeal staying proceedings in the matter.
He said the appellate court subsequently nullified the judgment.
The party further relied on an earlier judgment by another Federal High Court judge, Justice Musa Liman, who reportedly dismissed a challenge to its leadership for lack of merit and locus standi.
According to Shaibu, Liman had held that the internal leadership dispute was non-justiciable, upheld the legality of the leadership handover and affirmed INEC’s entitlement to recognise the national chairman and national secretary.
He argued that Lifu, sitting at the same Federal High Court, could not disregard the earlier decision, adding that the conflicting legal positions were among the issues now before the Court of Appeal.
