Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Chidi Odinkalu, has criticised the assignment of cases involving opposition political parties to Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Odinkalu made the remark on Friday while reacting to Lifu's
judgment ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to
reinstate Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Ogun State,
Ladi Adebutu, on its list for the 2027 election.
The former NHRC chairman contrasted the ruling with an
earlier judgment by the same judge, which nullified the entire list of
candidates of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, for the 2027 general
elections.
In a post on X, Odinkalu alleged that while Lifu had struck
out the ADC's entire list of candidates last week, he had now reinstated
Adebutu, whom he described as the preferred candidate of the Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
He also questioned the assignment of the cases to the judge,
suggesting that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho,
was responsible for what he described as a predictable pattern of case
assignments.
Odinkalu wrote: "Last week, Peter Lifu nixed the entire
slate of @ADCNig candidates running in #NigeriaDecides2027.
"Today, he has reinstated @ladiadebutu, who is
@GovWike's candidate for the governorship of Ogun State in the 2027 election.
"John Tsoho, Chief Judge of @FederalHigh has delivered
another predictable case assignment. #HailToTheChief!"
Meanwhile, Justice Lifu, in his judgment on Friday, ordered
INEC to restore Adebutu's name to the list of candidates within 24 hours.
The judge held that INEC lacked the constitutional and
statutory powers to unilaterally disqualify a candidate validly nominated by a
political party.
He further ruled that the commission violated Adebutu's
right to fair hearing by excluding his name from the candidates' list without
giving him an opportunity to be heard.
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