By Okoi Obono-Obla
Our attention has been drawn to the press statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), captioned “LIFU JUDGMENT: APC WANTS TO SET NIGERIA ON FIRE”, over the judgment of Hon. Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered today, 5th November 2026.
The statement is irresponsible, tendentious and a calculated attempt to intimidate the judiciary and mislead unsuspecting Nigerians.
1. The judgment date was fixed and known to all parties.
This matter has been pending since 2025. The case of Nafiu Bala Gombe was heard on the merits and adjourned to today for judgment. The ADC as a party was fully aware of the date. To link a judgment delivered today to a political rally held in Sokoto on 3rd November 2026 is mischievous and a deliberate attempt to whip up sentiments.
Courts do not fix their calendar around political rallies.
The ADC knew its congresses, the emergence of the Senator David Mark-led NWC, and all nominations arising therefrom were subject to a live judicial challenge. Rather than await the outcome, the party proceeded with gusto and recalcitrance, without regard for its own constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the rule of law. You cannot hijack the structure of a registered political party without complying with due process and then cry foul when the court calls you to order.
2. The alleged conflict of judgments does not exist.
The reliance by the ADC Spokesman on the case of Hon. Leke Abejide v. ADC & Ors. [Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025] decided by Hon. Justice Musa Liman on 2nd July 2026, to suggest that that judgment had already decided the case determined today by Hon. Justice Peter Lifu, is tendentious, misleading and calculated to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians.
For clarity:
Abejide’s case was filed by Hon. Leke Abejide, challenging the Mark leadership.
Today’s case is Nafiu Bala Gombe v. ADC & Ors. [Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025], filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, former National Deputy Chairman (North-East).
They are two different cases, by different plaintiffs, under different suit numbers, with different facts.
More importantly, what Justice Liman did on 2nd July 2026 was to decline jurisdiction. He upheld the preliminary objection that the matter bordered on the internal affairs of a political party and was therefore non-justiciable, and that Abejide lacked locus standi. He dismissed the suit in limine. He did not affirm the legitimacy of the David Mark-led NWC on the merits.
Today, Justice Lifu heard the Gombe case on the merits and found that the Mark-led Caretaker Committee was illegally constituted and consequently nullified all actions taken under it, including the presidential primary that produced former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
There is therefore no conflict of judgments of courts of coordinate jurisdiction. Where one court declines jurisdiction and another court in a different suit assumes jurisdiction and decides on the merits, you cannot manufacture a conflict to discredit a judge.
3. Attack on the judge is contemptuous.
To describe the judgment as a “reckless judicial pen”, to allege that it was pre-written because of a rally, and to threaten that Nigeria will be set on fire, is contemptuous, inciteful and an affront to judicial independence. If the ADC believes the judgment is wrong, its remedy lies in an appeal, not in threats and public opprobrium directed at a judge who was merely doing his job.
No democracy survives where judgments are obeyed only when favourable. The ADC should pursue its appeal quietly, respect thejudiciary, and desist from statements capable of overheating the polity. Nigeria will not go up in flames because a political party lost a case that hung over it like the sword of Damocles.
