Follow Us on Google
Inside the courtroom of the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided by Justice Peter Lifu, is where one of the ruthless in a series of plots to bend Nigeria’s current democratic rules to the will of one man is taking place. Unknown to Nigerians, behind the scenes, a lot is being hatched and surrendiptiously executed. The overall objective is to vanquish strong opposition candidates and ensure an easy road to victory for the incumbent in the forthcoming presidential poll on January 16, 2027.
Time is ticking fast. If ‘one plot fails, try another’. That’s how someone familiar with the script, designed by the hitman of the ruling party, told me last week. It’s all about the bad, the ugly and the cringe. Nothing good. The plot is not hidden anymore. Since last Thursday, November 5, when Justice Lifu threw the entire structure of the opposition African Democratic Congress(ADC) under the bus and the prospects of its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in doubt, there have been no shortage of words to describe the hammer blow in the judgement delivered by Justice Lifu.
Many have argued that there was no justice served in that judgement. And questions have been asked: Is this judge a knife-wielder ‘hired’ to cause chaos ahead of the elections, or a judicial lapdog of the ruling party? Someone called him “Lifuprudence hitman”.
Answers to the questions raised vary depending on where one stands on the matter that could pose a present danger to a free, credible and transparent election next year. It appears Justice Lifu is now brave enough to show where he stands on the ADC internal crisis. He doesn’t care about public opinion, especially since the hustler called Nafiu Bala Gombe threw spanners in the works of the party.
Nafiu Bala Gombe is laying claims to the National Chairmanship of the party following the resignation of pioneer National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu. Did Justice Lifu judiciously go through the facts before him, including the Supreme Court ruling on matters concerning the internal affairs of political parties before writing his judgement? It may be recalled that the Supreme Court of Nigeria first established the principle that the internal affairs of a political party are non-justiciable in the 1983 landmark case of Onuoha v.Okafor, delivered by Justice Andrew Otutu Obaseki.
The apex Court had ruled that the choice of candidates and general internal administration are political questions outside the jurisdiction of courts, provided the party acts within its own Constitution and breaks no statutory law or fundamental rights. When the case instituted by Nafiu Bala first came up for hearing, evidence was adduced by ADC that the applicant duly resigned his position as Deputy National Chairman(North East) zone of the party.
The stance of the Supreme Court regarding the internal affairs of political parties has been repeatedly reaffirmed in subsequent landmark rulings, including: Dalhatu v. Turaki(2003); PDP v. Sylva(2012), and Emenike v.PDP(2012). So, why is the Nafiu Bala v. ADC different? The intense legal status that Lifu’s judgment has generated faces yet another dilemma that the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) should be careful about. On July 2, 2026, Justice Musa Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on the same matter, dismissed a suit challenging David Mark-led Executive.
Justice Lima ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over internal party affairs, and directed INEC to recognise the David Mark-led leadership. It was on the basis of this, that INEC granted portal access to the faction, which submitted about 1,503 candidates for the 2027 elections. These candidates, including Atiku, have their fate hanging in the balance. In all of this, which one will INEC obey? While awaiting the Appeal Court decision on the matter, any rush to obey the judgement by Justice Lifu will definitely make the umpire an interested party and a biased ‘referee’.
That’s the dilemma facing Joash Amupitan-led INEC that has been under a blanket of suspicion lately. That’s also why Justice Lifu’s judgment is a landmine that could result in far-reaching consequences for the 2027 elections. One could hear some APC members celebrating the judgment of Lifu. Understandably so. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, has been beating his chest. He says that Nigeria would not suffer any catastrophe, and “heavens won’t fall” if Atiku fails to make the ballot next year. “ADC will be on the ballot, but Atiku may not”, meaning Atiku’s fate is a fait accompli as far as Keyamo is concerned. That’s a skewed logic coming from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN). That’s how low Nigerian politics has degenerated. When politics pays your bills, truth becomes the enemy – the first casualty. But that’s the pain Justice Lifu has caused our democracy, bending it to the will of the man who wields the ultimate power. That’s exactly the crux of the essay in June this year, by legal scholar and human rights activist Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu. Writing in TheNiche(one of Nigeria’s fast-growing, authentic, trusted and courageous online newspapers), with the title: “Lifuprudence, the hitman of Nigeria’s democracy”. Odinkalu coined the term to strongly excoriate some of the controversial rulings by Justice Lifu. Odinkalu defines “Lifuprudence as the dark art of taking the prudence out of the science of law”, characterising it as “casual, predetermined judicial outcome – hunting disguise as legal text”.
The core argument of Odinkalu, which has been vindicated by last week’s Judgement is that the judge takes liberty in discarding legal precedent, stressing that “Lifuprudence” operates entirely outside the discipline of judicial hierarchies, ignoring established legal principles and binding superior courts’ decisions”. What is playing out now from the controversial judgment by Justice Lifu could be likened to the infamous Justice Bassey Ikpeme’s midnight injunction on June 10, 1993 in a suit filed by Arthur Nzeribe’s unregistered Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) that set the legal foundation and eventual crisis that led to the annulment of June 12, 1993, presidential election widely believed to have being won by Chief MKO Abiola (now late).
Justice Lifu, though he does not exactly come across as typical Justice Ikpeme, has exhibited similar tendencies. For instance, Lifu had in his ruling in June 2026 issued a 103-page judgement ordering the deregistration of ADC and four other political parties. His judgement was despite the Court of Appeal issuing an express stay of proceedings 25 days prior. This led the Appellate Court to publicly rebuke him, calling his action, “the highest form of judicial rascality”. That spanking on his reputation didn’t move him. A day after ordering INEC to deregister the ADC, Justice Lifu sat to adjudicate on an internal leadership dispute over the very same party he had just ruled out of existence.
His decision last Thursday sounds like he was doing the bidding of someone at the top. Nobody knows exactly, but time will certainly tell. All of this seems to summarise a disturbing narrative that is taking hold on our democracy: it’s the weaponisation of the courts by politicians looking desperately to short-circuit internal party democracy and intimidate political opponents, less than 70 days to the presidential election. The timing of Lifu’s judgment on ADC was telling. It came a day after a mammoth crowd turned out to witness the presidential campaign flag-off of the party in Sokoto. It also came few days after the Sokoto state government tried to scuttle the campaign from holding.
I don’t think the APC will stop at making sure ADC and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, doesn’t make the ballot on January 16, 2027. NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi is still a prime target. He could be next. This is why: APC is like King Herod Agrippa in the Bible who killed James(the brother of John, the son of Zebedee) with a sword(Acts 12:2). When he saw it pleased the Jews, he went after Apostle Peter and clamped him in detention. That’s what could happen if the attempt to exclude Atiku succeeds.
The writing is on the wall. With a series of attacks on Obi’s convoy, and intimidation of party supporters in many states, the latest being in Cross River and Delta, where a supporter of the party was killed in Asaba, and several other inflicted with severe injuries, the dark clouds are gathering. It’s not for nothing. The overall aim is to shut out both Atiku and Obi from the ballot, leaving President Tinubu as the only alternative. That’s how democracy dies when people don’t speak up against evil by those in power.
