When the National Judicial Council (NJC) announced its findings on the petitions against some judicial officers in the country on November 15, Justice Peter Odo Lifu would have been very relieved about the outcome.
Justice Lifu has been very busy in the last year after being involved in many important, yet contentious political cases in the country, which were sometimes said to be conflicting with related cases in another jurisdiction.
Among the cases are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Executive Council disputes with the chairman, the Rivers party and local government crisis, Kwara local government polls etc.
A statement signed by the Deputy Director of Information of the NJC, Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, after the council’s 107th meeting on November 13 and 14, noted that Justice Lifu was cleared of any wrongdoing in the four petitions against him for not being substantiated.
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The petitions came from the secretary of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr Douglas W. Chukwu on allegation of receiving $1 million, a bullet-proof car and a gift of a plot of land made by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Emeka Beke and the two petitions bordering on allegations of bribery and other corrupt practices by the chairman of the Boot Party in Rivers State, Abednego Oli Benjamin.
The Council observed that the same parties that appeared before the High Court in Rivers State also appeared before Justice Lifu at the Federal High Court in Abuja, but failed to disclose or bring to his notice the existence of the sister case.
“The Council noted that the acts of misconduct alleged were actually perpetuated by the petitioners who filed the case at the Rivers State High Court after the case at the Federal High Court, Abuja had been instituted, suggesting forum shopping.
“Council finds that Hon Justice Lifu neither exhibited personal interest in the matter nor misconducted himself in the procedure, and noted that the complaints contained in the petition are now subject to appeal by the petitioners,” it stated.
Some of the cases that landed Justice Lifu in the books of the NJC are presented below.
Suit for removal of 27 defecting lawmakers
On September 20, Justice Lifu dismissed a suit seeking to replace 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly over their alleged defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Lifu held that the suit by the Action People’s Party (APP) against the 27 state legislators said to be loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Ezenwo Wike over their defection, was statute-barred, having not been filed within the 14 days allowed by law.
The defection was allegedly done in December 2023 while the APP filed the case on July 12, a period of eight months after the cause of action emanated.
Besides, the court held that the suit was a gross abuse of the court process on the grounds that several similar suits had been adjudicated upon by the Federal High Court.
No dissolution of Rivers executive
On September 25, Justice Lifu issued an order restraining the PDP governors, National Working Committee (NWC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party from tampering with or dissolving the executive committees of the party in Rivers State.
The ex-parte application was brought by the PDP Rivers State Executive Committee led by Aaron Chukwuemeka and his counterparts at the local government and ward levels.
Others who filed the ex-parte application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1396/2024, are Oye Fubara Igenewari and ThankGod Bekee, who sued on behalf of themselves and State, local governments and ward executive committees respectfully.
Justice Lifu also restrained them from constituting any interim committee to replace the officers of the party at the state, local governments and ward levels who are pro-Wike in Rivers.
Justice Lifu also ordered the PDP national body and others not to tamper with or dissolve the local governments and ward leadership of the PDP in Rivers State who were said to have been elected along with the State Executive Committee this year at various congresses of the party.
Halts removal of PDP’s Damagum
On May 3, Justice Lifu issued an ex-parte restraining injunction against the party from nominating anybody to replace Umar Damagum as the acting national chairman of the PDP pending the determination of the motion on notice.
The judge extended the order on May 8 when he restrained the PDP from removing Umar Damagum as the party’s acting national chairman.
This was after the suit, marked FCH/ABJ/CS/579/2024, was filed by Umar El-Gash Maina and Zanna Mustapha Gaddama on May 2.
Those joined as respondents in the suit are the PDP, the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Executive Committee (NEC), the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The judge ruled that, “The defendants/respondents are hereby restrained in the interim from appointing, selecting or nominating any person to replace Amb Umar Illiya Damagum as national chairman or acting national chairman of the 1st defendant/respondent pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed, which is herein fixed against May 14, 2024.
“The defendants/respondents, by themselves agents, privies, or by any proxy, are hereby, in the interim restrained from, according to recognition, any person other than Amb Umar Illiya Damagum as acting national chairman of the 1st defendants/respondents or giving effect to or acting upon any document purporting to be signed by the national chairman or acting national chairman of the 1st defendant without the name and signature of Amb Umar Illiya Damagum pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed in court in the instant suit.
“The applicants are herein ordered to enter into a fresh undertaking to pay damages to the respondents (to be assessed by the court) if, at the end of the day, it is discovered that this order ought not to have been granted or that the honourable court was misled into granting the same.”
Stops INEC on Rivers voters’ register
On September 30, Justice Lifu stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing voters’ registers to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the October 5 local council election.
The judge also barred the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the State Security Service (SSS) from participating in and providing security for the conduct of the local government poll.
The judge issued the order while delivering a judgement in a suit brought before him by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the legality or otherwise of the processes leading to the fixing of the October 5 election date.
The suit was argued on behalf of the APC by a team of senior lawyers comprising Joseph Daudu, Sebastine Hon and Dr Ogwu James Onoja, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
Justice Lifu held that the RSIEC was wrong in fixing the October 5 date for the conduct of the poll when all relevant laws guiding the election had not been complied with.
Among others, the judge held that the Rivers State electoral body violated provisions of the local government election conduct law by not publishing the mandatory 90-day notice before fixing the date.
Justice Peter Lifu also held that the update and revision of the voters’ register by INEC ought to have been concluded 90 days before an election date can be legally and validly fixed in law.
The judge, therefore, ordered INEC not to make the certified voters’ register available to the RSIEC until all relevant laws had been fully complied with.
Similarly, the judge barred the RSIEC from accepting any voters’ register from INEC or using it for the October 5 local government poll.
Okays Kwara LG poll
On July 29, Justice Lifu issued an order barring INEC from releasing the voters’ register for local government election in Kwara State.
However, on September 17, Justice Lifu vacated an ex-parte order barring the Kwara State Government from conducting the local government election, which was slated for September 21 in the state.
The judge ruled that the initial order of July 29 halting the conduct of the poll had expired as it had exceeded the 14 days approved by law.
The PDP had sued INEC, the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission, Kwara AG, the Inspector-General of Police and the SSS challenging the conduct of the election.
The party contended that the action was in breach of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Act, 2022, as well as Kwara State Local Government Electoral (Amendment) Law, 2024.
Born at Okpoma, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State to the family of the late Agu Lifu, father, and Oludo Lifu, mother, Justice Lifu attended Christ the King Primary School, Okpoma from 1972 to 1978 for FSLC; Mary Knoll Colleg, Yala, Ogoja from 1979 to 1984 for WASC.
The jurist attended the University of Jos, Nigeria, where he obtained his LL.B and was later called to the Nigerian Bar after successfully obtaining his BL from the Nigerian Law School.
He obtained an M.Sc in Political Science from the University of Ibadan in 2003 and also bagged an LL.M from the same University. He began his working career as a Pupil Counsel in the law office of Chief Matthew Adepoju and Co, Ibadan, where he learnt the rudiments of advocacy.
He established the law office of Peter Lifu & Co in 1992. Justice Lifu was appointed a judge of the National Industrial Court in 2013. His lordship is currently on the bench of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.
Judges are under pressure – Lawyers
In his reaction, Mayor Ikoroha, a lawyer, said judges were under enormous pressure within and outside the courts due to the nature of the cases they handle, to the extent that they may be guided on what to rule on in some matters.
“The judges are not free; sometimes you may see a judge tilting to one side, and when the judgement comes out, it is an entirely different decision,” he said.
He said the pressure on judges also flowed from the fact that they cannot practise as lawyers after leaving the bench, and if that happens, they would find it difficult to support their families.
For Hameed Ajibola Jimoh, assignment of cases to judges is an administrative decision and at the discretion of the chief judge of the court.
“Nevertheless, if anyone suspects foul play in the entire circumstances with a cogent evidence, such a person may petition the chief judge or the National Judicial Council or both as the circumstances may necessitate,” he said.
On his part, E.M.D. Umukoro said some courts were assigned more political, crime, corruption and drug cases based on administrative decisions and as assigned by the office of the chief judge.
“Sometimes, there may be other influences that more of these cases are being assigned to particular judges due to the fact that they may have a speedy trial or those who are more government-friendly, but without these, you can be sure that assigning cases is more administrative than anything,” he said.
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