The Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja has ordered the National Welfare Secretary of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Nkemakolam Ukandu, to pay N100 million in damages to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Justice Peter Lifu.
Justice Salim Ibrahim issued the order on Monday after granting an oral application by J.U.K. Igwe (SAN), counsel to Justices Tsoho and Lifu. The court directed Ukandu to pay N50 million to each judge within 14 days.
The order came shortly after Justice Ibrahim struck out Ukandu’s suit against the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Tsoho and Justice Lifu for lack of diligent prosecution.
Ukandu had, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1165/2026, accused the two judges of bias, abuse of judicial powers, corruption and disobedience to court orders, and sought an order compelling the NJC to investigate the allegations.
However, the court noted that neither Ukandu nor his counsel had appeared before Justice Ibrahim since the case was assigned to him.
The judge had earlier, on June 30, warned that the suit would be dismissed if the plaintiff and his lawyer failed to appear in court.
The case arose from the ongoing leadership crisis within the ADC, particularly a dispute involving an aggrieved party member, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, whose substantive case is currently pending before Justice Lifu.
