Odinkalu accuses FHC Chief Judge Tsoho of alleged compromise in repeatedly assigning ADC cases to Justice Lifu
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Professor of law Chidi Odinkalu has alleged that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho is the masquerade behind the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu in nullifying the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar.
Justice Lifu on Thursday sacked the Senator David Mark-led executives of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and invalidated all actions they took on behalf of the party which included the presidential candidate of the party.
According to Odinkalu, it was strange that Justice Lifu kept handling cases regarding ADC. He recalled that the Appeal Court once described Justice Lifu as a judicial rascal after he delivered judgment ordering INEC to deregister ADC despite an Appeal Court ruling ordering him to stay action on the case.
In a post on his X handle, Odinkalu alleged that Justice Lifu appears to be a ‘hitman’ for the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in the service of his alleged political patrons.
The post reads in part: “Today, I consider it important to address the real culprit or masquerade behind the transactional judicial jobbery of #PeterLifu in @FederalHigh
.
“That masquerade is John Terhemba Tsoho. He is the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The role of Chief Judge comes with real powers. Among other things, he is responsible for postings & transfer of judges.
“Then, there is case assignment.
“In most other countries, cases are assigned by algorithm. In Nigeria, after a case is filed, the file goes to the Chief Judge (or to the senior-nost judge in the judicial division, often known as the Admin Judge) who then assigns the case to a judge to hear it.
“This process is not just manual; it is personal.
“This is often also the most important decision in many cases. It controls the outcome. In the Federal High Court of John Tsoho, this often pre-determines cases, especially when the cases have a political flavour.
“Chief Judge John Tsoho has a closed list of acolytes whom he trusts to hear & decide political cases in the direction of the political wind or patron to be serviced. That is now clear & it is no use hiding it.
“The political patron whose interest he serves is also easy to figure out.
“Peter Lifu occupies a treasured place in that list of #PoliticalHitmen on the bench of @federalhigh
. He can only do so because John Tsoho encourages him to. Here is a peek into Peter Lifu’s recent record:
“1. Declared the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC illegal.
“2. Nullified the emergence of David Mark as National Chairman.
“3. Invalidated Rauf Aregbesola’s emergence as National Secretary.
“4. Nullified decisions taken by the disputed leadership, including the presidential primary that produced Atiku Abubakar.
“5. Invalidated the nominations of other ADC candidates for the 2027 elections.
“6. Directed @inecnigeria not to recognise decisions taken at the party’s July 27, 2025 NEC meeting.
“7. Disregarded the specific order of the Court of Appeal to stay proceedings in relation to 1.
“8. Sat as his own court of appeal on the decision of Liman J. also of the same Court in relation to 4-5.
“These decisions ransack the discipline of judicial hierarchy & precedent. To reach them, Peter Lifu routinely & repeatedly disregards controlling precedent from @SupremeCourtNg. Most other judges who do that will be out of a job. Yet he prospers.
“The problem with Peter Lifu & the slate of political surrogates masquerading as judges under the leadership of John Tsoho in @FederalHigh has moved beyond a critique of discrete decisions in specific cases.
“It is about a pattern of manifestly compromised case assignments & docket management by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, which provides ample evidence in support of the conclusion that there is a deliberate collusion in the court hierarchy to produce pre-determined decisions from the court of Lifu & his coven of politically corrupted judges.
“Otherwise, how do cases involving @ADC keep going to him even after @NGCourtofAppeal on record called him a #JudicialRascal & found him guilty of “judicial impertinence” in relation to matters affecting the same party?
“Whoever sees John Tsoho should pls ask him: does he not know of other judges in the Federal High Court? Can he disclose whose interest he is serving because one thing is now clear: he is no longer serving the interest of justice in the office of Chief Judge of @FederalHigh
…. And he knows it.”
