The Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has accused Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, of deliberate miscarriage of justice, alleging that the judge acted to favour Abia State Governor Alex Otti and Senator Nenadi Usman in a recent ruling that has thrown the party into an existential crisis.
In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the faction expressed grave concern over what it described as the degradation of Nigeria’s judicial system by some members of the bench, saying the Labour Party is the worst hit by Justice Lifu’s alleged judicial misconduct .
The party condemned the recent judgment delivered by Justice Lifu against the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and five other political parties, noting that the jurist overlooked all known principles of law to favour Ms Nenadi Usman in a matter brought before his court against Julius Abure and others.
Justice Peter Lifu has been at the centre of two highly controversial rulings that have significantly impacted Nigeria’s political landscape in recent months.
In a judgment delivered on January 21, 2026, Justice Lifu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Senator Nenadi Usman as the valid leader of the Labour Party, effectively sacking Julius Abure as National Chairman .
The ruling followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025 filed by Usman, in which Abure and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) were cited as defendants . Justice Lifu held that evidence before the court established that Abure’s tenure had elapsed, and dismissed Abure’s contention that the dispute was an internal party affair beyond judicial rereview.
The judge relied on the April 4, 2025 decision of the Supreme Court, which had nullified concurrent judgments of the lower courts that previously recognised Abure . Justice Lifu ruled that the constitution of a caretaker committee was “a necessity” arising from the Supreme Court’s order .
The caretaker committee had been constituted at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Governor Alex Otti and chaired by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi .
On June 15, 2026, Justice Lifu delivered another bombshell ruling, ordering INEC to deregister five political parties: the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) .
The judgment stemmed from a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which sought to compel INEC to deregister parties that failed to meet constitutional performance thresholds under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution.
The plaintiff argued that the affected parties had neither secured 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election nor won any elective seat at the national, state, or local government level .
The ruling immediately sparked outcry, as it threatened to disqualify opposition candidates, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who had recently emerged as the ADC presidential candidate, and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the Accord platform .
However, within 24 hours, the Court of Appeal intervened, suspending the execution of the judgment and describing Justice Lifu’s action as “the highest form of judicial impertinence” . The appellate court, in a unanimous ruling, held that Justice Lifu had acted in disregard of an earlier order of the Court of Appeal staying proceedings on the matter .
The panel of justices, led by Abba Mohammed, held that Justice Lifu exhibited “judicial rascality” by going ahead to hear and make the order despite the pendency of an appeal before the appellate court, which was scheduled for hearing on October 27, 2026 .
Elaborating on the Labour Party case, Ifoh detailed a series of “red flags” that preceded the judgment against Abure.
He stated that the case was originally assigned to Justice J.K. Omotosho, who had already delivered two judgments on the party’s national convention held on March 27, 2024. However, after the matter was discontinued and refiled by the same parties, the Chief Judge assigned the new suit to Justice Lifu—a move the party described as its first major red flag .
The second red flag emerged when the matter came up for hearing on November 3, 2025. The NLC filed a motion for joinder, raising fundamental issues that required a response. When the Abure-led faction asked for an adjournment to respond, Justice Lifu allegedly “descended to the arena and insisted that the matter must go on that day” .
“He was acting like a man in a hurry to conclude a task. There was no reason for him not to have allowed us to respond to the claims. It was then that we started suspecting that there must be a lot more that we cannot see,” Ifoh stated .
The faction also pointed to Governor Alex Otti’s public boast that he would secure a favorable judgment, noting that Otti’s supporters were celebrating even before the ruling was delivered.
Ifoh identified three established legal principles that Justice Lifu’s judgment allegedly negated:
- Internal Party Affairs Doctrine — The principle that issues of leadership are internal affairs of political parties over which courts lack jurisdiction .
- Supreme Court Supremacy — The principle that no court has the power to interpret or give effect to a Supreme Court decision beyond what the apex court itself determined .
- Fair Hearing Doctrine — The principle that all parties must be given adequate opportunity to respond to issues raised in a matter.
The Abure-led faction has expressed regret that the Court of Appeal affirmed Justice Lifu’s judgment on the Labour Party leadership but expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will do justice as the final court of redress .
“I want to say very clearly that our democracy, party politics, the rule of law, our constitution and the Electoral Act are under serious threat,” Ifoh warned .
He called on “courageous judges of the Supreme Court to rise to the occasion and steer our ship of judiciary out of where it is currently headed to, because if the courts continue in this manner, it will be very clear that our democracy is heading towards destruction” .
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