An official of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nkemakolam Ukandu, has taken legal action against the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, and the National Judicial Council (NJC). He alleges bias, misuse of judicial power, and ignoring court orders regarding the reassignment of a case about the party’s leadership.
Court documents shared on Friday show that Mr Ukandu, who is ADC’s National Welfare Secretary, filed the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, June 4.
He included Judge Peter Lifu, who was recently assigned to hear the leadership case involving the party’s current leadership led by former Senate President David Mark.
Among other requests, he is asking the NJC to investigate the bias claims in his petition against Tsoho and Lifu.
This new case is part of the ongoing legal issues following changes in the ADC’s leadership. The party has faced internal conflicts since a group of opposition politicians chose it as a platform for the 2027 general elections, supporting a new leadership led by Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
These changes have led to legal challenges from some party members, including Nafiu Bala. They argue that the process that led to the new leadership broke the party’s constitution and rules.
Mr Ukandu wants to join Mr Bala’s case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, which questions the legality of the current leadership in the party.
In his new case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1165/2026, Mr Ukandu is challenging the decision to move the case from Judge Emeka Nwite to Judge Lifu.
According to court documents, the Supreme Court had on April 30 sent the leadership case back to Mr Nwite to continue proceedings, especially on pending applications about whether the Federal High Court could hear the case.
Mr Ukandu said that when the case resumed before Mr Nwite, the plaintiff's lawyer asked for it to be moved to another judge. He noted that the lawyers for the defendants and those wanting to join the case opposed this request.
Mr Nwite then postponed the proceedings indefinitely until all parties were served the request, the Chief Judge responded, and the certified true copy of the Supreme Court’s judgment was produced.
Despite these developments, Mr Ukandu claims that Mr Tsoho reassigned the case to Justice Lifu. He stated, "Without complying with the orders of the Supreme Court and Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite, the 2nd Defendant in abuse of his judicial powers reassigned this matter."
The reassignment happened after some judges, including Mr Nwite, were elevated to the Court of Appeal. This caused a reshuffle of several cases that those judges were handling.
Mr Ukandu argued that even with Mr Nwite’s promotion, the Supreme Court’s order required that the case continue before him. Any reassignment, he says, showed a disregard for the Supreme Court’s decision.
He also claimed that Mr Lifu set a date for the hearing even though he knew about the earlier orders from the Supreme Court and Mr Nwite.
Allegations of bias
In his suit, Mr Ukandu accused both Tsoho and Lifu of showing bias in the leadership dispute.
He mentioned that the party had, in a statement on May 7, expressed concerns about plans to move the case to another judge.
Mr Ukandu also claimed that his lawyer, Kalu Agu, did not receive a hearing notice before proceedings took place on June 3.
He referenced comments made by legal scholar and former chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu. He argued that these comments supported his fears about not getting a fair hearing in the leadership case.
He accused Mr Lifu of ignoring judicial precedents and acting in a way that suggested bias.
These allegations have not yet been tested in court, and neither Tsoho nor Lifu has publicly responded to them.
Prayers
Mr Ukandu informed the court that he had already written to the NJC and the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He alleged corruption, misuse of judicial power, disobedience to court orders, and bias against the two judges.
He wants a court declaration that the NJC must investigate complaints against judges and impose sanctions if needed.
He also asks the court to compel the NJC to look into the allegations against Tsoho and Lifu.
Additionally, he seeks to stop Mr Lifu from presiding over the leadership case until the petition is resolved and to direct the judge to withdraw from the matter.
As of now, neither the Federal High Court nor the NJC has responded to the suit. The court has not set a date for hearing this new case.
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