African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council has alleged bias in the reassignment of a case involving its leadership by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
The council, which alleged that the transfer undermined its right to fair hearing, also called for the immediate release of the full judgment in the case, saying the delay was obstructing the party’s efforts to challenge the ruling before the Court of Appeal.
In a statement yesterday by its Director of Strategic Communications, Phrank Shaibu, the ADC-PCC questioned why the case was transferred from Justice Emeka Nwite, who had already commenced hearing it, to Justice Lifu, despite the party’s formal protest to the Chief Judge.
According to Shaibu, Justice Tsoho got a letter from the ADC National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, on June 2, requesting him to reverse the reassignment and expressing the party’s lack of confidence in Justice Lifu’s impartiality.
According to the statement, the case was, nevertheless, assigned to Justice Lifu the following day.
The ADC-PCC said the plaintiff had sought the transfer on grounds of delay and loss of confidence in obtaining a timely hearing.
It, however, disputed that account, saying its lawyers had responded on May 11 with details of previous adjournments and challenged the plaintiff’s claims about responsibility for the delays.
The council described the request for reassignment as an attempt at forum shopping and questioned why the Chief Judge proceeded with the transfer after receiving the party’s objection.
It called on Justice Tsoho to make public the reasons for the decision, arguing that the timing of the reassignment raised concerns about the impartiality of the process.
The campaign council said its lawyers had taken the legal issues before the Court of Appeal, adding that it would respect the appellate court’s decision while presenting what it described as documentary evidence surrounding the transfer to the public.
It also demanded the certified judgment, including the reasons for the decision, to enable the party to pursue its legal options.
The ADC-PCC further questioned Justice Lifu’s handling of an earlier suit involving the deregistration of the ADC and four other political parties. FollowPolitics
It alleged that the judge proceeded with the matter despite an order of the Court of Appeal staying proceedings and subsequently ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the parties.
The council said the appellate court later nullified the deregistration judgment and had strongly criticised Justice Lifu’s decision to proceed with the case, citing its description of the action as the “highest form of judicial impertinence” and its reference to “judicial rascality”.
The council cited a separate judgment by Justice Musa Liman, who, according to the council, dismissed a challenge to the ADC leadership for lack of merit and locus standi.
It said Justice Liman had held that the internal party dispute was non-justiciable, upheld the leadership handover and affirmed INEC’s recognition of the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary.
The ADC-PCC argued that Justice Lifu could not disregard those findings, describing the issue as one of the legal questions its lawyers had submitted to the Court of Appeal.
The council also raised allegations concerning Justice Tsoho, referring to a reported Code of Conduct Bureau inquiry over alleged undeclared bank accounts and press reports claiming that a large sum of cash was found in his wife’s possession.
It acknowledged that the allegations did not establish guilt and that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had not publicly confirmed the report concerning the cash.
However, the council suggested that the allegations could expose the Chief Judge to pressure from powerful interests, while urging him to publicly account for the reassignment if no such pressure influenced his decision.
The ADC-PCC called on the National Judicial Council to examine the transfer, the party’s formal protest and Justice Lifu’s handling of the earlier deregistration case.
It also urged the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to challenge ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar at the ballot box rather than, as it alleged, relying on court proceedings to undermine his candidacy.
“Tinubu must face Atiku on the political battleground and answer for the hardship Nigerians endure,” the council said, warning against turning the courts into arenas for political contest. Nigerianews subscription
The party said it would defend its position before the Court of Appeal and maintain that Nigerians’ right to choose their president should not be compromised by political interests.