As if the judgment he delivered ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is not enough, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja last Tuesday fined the party and its National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, ₦500,000 each over the application for him withdrawal from a suit.
ADC and Aregbesola had, in separate motions, asked Justice Lifu to recuse himself from the suit filed by an aggrieved party member, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, citing alleged bias.
Delivering a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Lifu held that the motions lacked merit and were devoid of credible evidence aimed at frustrating the order of the Supreme Court for accelerated hearing of the case.
The judge argued that the motions for recusal were filed even when the court had yet to assume jurisdiction on the case. He did not only describe the applications as “an abuse of court process”, but said they were fundamentally defective.
Justice Lifu added that it was a cheap attempt to blackmail and intimidate the court, and that nobody can intimidate the court. He then proceeded to slamming the sum of N500,000 cost each against the applicants and in favour of the plaintiff.
