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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, will today commence accelerated hearing in the suit challenging the legitimacy of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership under former Senate President, Senator David Mark.
Justice Lifu had last week ordered an expedited trial and adjourned to Monday, June 8, directing all parties to file and exchange their respective processes ahead of the commencement of hearing.
But the trial faces fresh complications, as two senior ADC chieftains have separately filed motions asking Justice Lifu to step down from the case, citing bias, corruption, and a pending petition against the judge at the National Judicial Council (NJC).
ADC Welfare Secretary, Nkemakolam Ukandu, filed a motion on notice dated June 5, urging Justice Lifu to forthwith recuse himself from the suit, pending the hearing and determination of a petition he lodged at the NJC against both Justice Lifu and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
Ukandu predicated his application on four grounds, chief among them being that the petition and the suit share common subject matter, specifically allegations of “corruption, abuse of judicial powers, disobedience to court orders and bias” by Justice Tsoho and Justice Lifu against him.
The recusal bid came barely 24 hours after Ukandu also filed a separate suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1165/2026 against the NJC, the Chief Judge, and Justice Lifu, accusing them of corruption, disobedience to Supreme Court orders, and manifest bias.
In his motion, Ukandu specifically prayed the court for an order directing Justice Lifu to recuse himself from suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe v. African Democratic Congress and 4 others, pending the determination of his NJC petition.
In the alternative, he asked the court to either transfer the case back to the Chief Judge or stay all further proceedings pending the NJC’s decision.
Ukandu’s application came barely 72 hours after ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, filed a similar recusal motion through his lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, dated and filed June 1, 2026.
Aregbesola invoked the constitutio nal guarantee of every litigant to a hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal, accusing Justice Lifu of demonstrating bias in his ruling in a separate suit by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators v. INEC and 6 others — in which the ADC is the third defendant.
Beyond the formal recusal motions, Ukandu’s suit paints a more damning picture of the judge, alleging that Justice Lifu cannot deliver impartial justice in the case because of his alleged relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Ukandu alleged that Wike, who supports President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid and is widely accused of fuelling internal crises in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is working to weaken opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 presidential election — and that Justice Lifu is complicit in that agenda.
“The Plaintiff believes as his matter, pending before the 3rd Defendant’s court, affects Nyesom Wike’s interest, he would not get justice,” Ukandu averred in the suit.
He further alleged that Justice Lifu “visited shamelessly” President Tinubu to beg for landed property in Abuja, a conduct he described as a violation of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers and that the judge “has consistently disregarded the doctrine of stare decisis” while displaying “clear bias” against him.
The substantive suit was filed by ADC National Deputy Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who approached the court seeking an order restraining the Mark-led leadership from parading itself as the legitimate executives of the ADC, and a corresponding order barring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising them.
Justice Emeka Nwite, who initially handled the matter, directed Gombe to put the defendants on notice and ordered them to appear and show cause why the application should not be granted. Rather than comply, the defendants appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, challenging the trial court’s jurisdiction to entertain what they described as the internal affairs of the party.
The appellate court dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit, ordered accelerated hearing, and directed all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.
Dissatisfied, Senator Mark approached the Supreme Court, seeking to set aside the status quo order and to have the apex court declare that both lower courts erred by entertaining Gombe’s suit. The Supreme Court, in its judgment, set aside the status quo ante bellum order but returned the matter to the trial court for accelerated hearing.
The trial could not proceed on May 8, however, following a request by the plaintiff for the case to be transferred from Justice Nwite. The latter had adjourned the matter indefinitely, pending the submission of the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment and a decision by Chief Judge Tsoho on the transfer request.
The matter was subsequently reassigned to Justice Lifu following the NJC’s recommendation of Justice Nwite for elevation to the Court of Appeal, a development that has since triggered the NJC petition against the Chief Judge and Justice Lifu, as well as the fresh litigation and recusal applications now clouding Monday’s scheduled hearing.
