The ADC Presidential Campaign Council is laying bare the machinations behind the transfer of a case that Justice Emeka Nwite had already begun hearing to Justice Peter Lifu. Despite our formal protest to Chief Judge Justice John Tsoho, he assigned the case to Justice Lifu the very next day—a decision that exposes Justice Tsoho’s bias and culminated in a judgment so brazenly rascally that it must not be allowed to stand.

Our lawyers have taken the legal questions before the esteemed justices of the Court of Appeal. We respect their authority to decide them. We also come before the court of public opinion with the documents that show how this case reached Justice Lifu. Nigerians deserve to know why Justice Nwite was prevented from concluding a case he had already begun hearing.

We call for the immediate release of the full judgment in this matter. The ADC must be given the official copy and the reasons for the decision so that we can proceed with the appropriate legal action. Withholding the judgment obstructs our right to challenge it and denies the appellate court the benefit of a complete record.

The plaintiff’s request to remove the case from Justice Nwite cited delay and a loss of confidence in obtaining a timely hearing. Justice Nwite had not recused himself. He remained a serving judge, and the case was already before him.

Our counsel responded to the request on 11 May 2026. The letter listed the adjournments, challenged the plaintiff’s account of who caused them and protested that the request amounted to forum shopping. On 2 June, ADC National Secretary Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola wrote to Justice Tsoho, asking him to reverse the reassignment. The letter stated plainly that the party had no confidence in Justice Lifu’s impartiality and formally protested the transfer. Yet, the case was assigned to Justice Lifu the next day.

Justice Tsoho received our protest. Why did he proceed with the transfer? What did he find in the plaintiff’s allegation of delay that outweighed the court record and our protest? Let him publish his reasons. Let Nigerians read them beside the letters.

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. Justice Tsoho must answer those concerns openly. The public is entitled to know why our formal protest was set aside and why the case was reassigned the very next day.

Then there is Justice Musa Liman’s certified judgment. He dismissed a challenge to the ADC leadership for lack of merit and locus standi. He held that the internal party dispute was non-justiciable, declared the leadership handover lawful and held that INEC was entitled to recognise the National Chairman and National Secretary. Justice Lifu, sitting in the same Federal High Court, could not simply make those orders disappear. That is one of the questions our lawyers have placed before the Court of Appeal.

Our concern about Justice Lifu was reinforced in a different suit. He ordered INEC to deregister the ADC and four other parties despite a Court of Appeal order staying proceedings. The appellate court described his decision to proceed as the “highest form of judicial impertinence” and invoked Supreme Court authority on “judicial rascality.” It later nullified the deregistration judgment.

We might even sympathise with Justice Tsoho. He faces a Code of Conduct Bureau inquiry over allegations concerning undeclared bank accounts. There have also been press reports alleging that a large sum of cash was found in his wife’s possession, though the EFCC has not publicly confirmed that report. None of these allegations establishes guilt.

But if powerful people have a hold over the Chief Judge while such matters hang over him, he owes Nigerians the courage to say so. If no pressure influenced this transfer, he should give the public a full account of his decision. Whatever his predicament, the ADC’s right to a fair hearing cannot be made to pay for it.

Judicial officers should remember how court decisions deepened the crises preceding the end of our First and Second Republics. The names of Chief Justice Adetokunbo Ademola and Justices John Taylor and Lionel Bairamian remain in the judicial history of the First Republic; Justices Ayorinde, Alao and Popoola remain in that of the Second. Today’s judges must consider what history will say of their own decisions.

The National Judicial Council must examine the transfer, the formal protest Justice Tsoho received and Justice Lifu’s conduct. The ruling APC should be bold enough to face Atiku Abubakar on the political battleground and answer for the hardship Nigerians endure. The hallowed chambers of our courts must not be turned into arenas for political combat. Nigerians must see those who would rather fight their opponent through court manoeuvres than meet him at the ballot box.

Atiku remains our candidate. The law is on his side, not sentiment. We will defend that position before the Court of Appeal and keep the record before Nigerians. Their right to choose their president must never become a bargaining chip in anyone’s struggle for power.

Signed:
Phrank Shaibu
Director, Strategic Communications
ADC Presidential Campaign Council
10th November 2026