Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja will begin hearing arguments today in a dispute over who leads the African Democratic Congress, with the court pushing for a quick resolution of the case.
The case centres on whether Senator David Mark and his team have the right to represent the party. Nafiu Bala Gombe, the National Deputy Chairman of ADC, went to court asking a judge to stop Mark's group from claiming to lead the party until the dispute is settled. Gombe also asked the court to tell the Independent National Electoral Commission to ignore Mark's leadership.
When Mark's camp refused to show up in the lower court to defend themselves, Gombe won an order. Rather than accept that loss, Mark's team appealed to the Court of Appeal, which rejected their challenge and ordered an accelerated hearing. The Supreme Court later removed an order that had frozen the status quo, allowing some movement in the case.
Now two senior members of ADC are asking Justice Lifu to step away from the case. Nkemakolam Ukandu, the party's Welfare Secretary, filed a motion on June 5 asking Lifu to withdraw, saying there is a petition against the judge at the National Judicial Council on grounds of corruption, abuse of judicial power, disobedience to court orders, and bias. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the National Secretary of ADC, made a similar request on June 1, telling the court that every litigant deserves a fair hearing before an impartial judge.
Aregbesola's lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, pointed to a previous case where Lifu ruled in a dispute involving the National Forum of Former Legislators against INEC, with ADC as a defendant. Aregbesola said that ruling showed bias. Ukandu went further, asking Lifu either to recuse himself, transfer the case to the Chief Judge, or pause the hearing until the National Judicial Council finishes investigating the petition against him.
In another move that complicates matters, Ukandu and others filed a fresh suit at the National Judicial Council against both Lifu and John Tsoho, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. That suit, filed just 24 hours before Ukandu's recusal motion, accuses both judges of corruption, disobedience to Supreme Court orders, and manifest bias.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of ADC who backs the Mark leadership, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party will not fold itself into other existing parties just to win elections. His comments appear aimed at ruling out any merger or reconciliation that might end the leadership row.
Today's hearing will test whether Justice Lifu pushes ahead or grants the requests to step aside. If he stays, the court is expected to move quickly through evidence from both sides.
