The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential campaign council has asked the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate two federal high court judges over the transfer of a case involving the party’s leadership dispute from Emeka Nwite to Peter Lifu.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Phrank Shaibu, director of strategic communications of the ADC presidential campaign council, said John Tsoho, chief judge of the federal high court, reassigned the case a day after receiving a formal protest from Rauf Aregbesola, the party’s national secretary.

Shaibu called on the NJC to examine the transfer of the case by Tsoho, the protest received by him, and Lifu’s conduct in the matter.

He said the transfer raised concerns about the impartiality of the process, particularly because Nwite had already begun hearing the case and had not recused himself.

The opposition party accused him of bias, because he reassigned the case to Lifu who gave the initial judgement derecognising the David Mark-led leadership.

The ADC campaign council spokesperson said the party’s lawyers had taken the legal questions surrounding the matter before the court of appeal, adding that it would respect the appellate court’s decision.

However, he called for the immediate release of the full judgement that sacked the Mark-led ADC leadership, saying the party needed the official copy and the reasons for the decision to pursue further legal action.

“The ADC must be given the official copy and the reasons for the decision so that we can proceed with the appropriate legal action. Withholding the judgment obstructs our right to challenge it and denies the appellate court the benefit of a complete record,” the statement reads.

Shaibu said the plaintiff had sought to have the case transferred from Nwite on the grounds of delay and a lack of confidence in obtaining a timely hearing.

He said ADC lawyers responded to the request on May 11, 2026, listing previous adjournments, disputing the plaintiff’s account of who was responsible for them and describing the application as forum shopping.

He added that Aregbesola wrote to Tsoho on June 2, asking him to reverse the reassignment and formally protesting the transfer on the grounds that the party lacked confidence in Lifu’s impartiality.

According to Shaibu, the case was assigned to Lifu the following day despite the protest.

“The sequence and timing of this transfer raise grave concerns about bias and create an appearance that the process was not handled with the impartiality this matter demanded,” he said.

“Justice Tsoho must answer those concerns openly. The public is entitled to know why our formal protest was set aside and why the case was reassigned the very next day.”

The ADC campaign spokesperson also questioned Lifu’s handling of a separate suit in which he ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the party and four others.

He said the court of appeal had stayed proceedings in that matter, but Lifu went ahead to deliver judgement, which was later nullified by the appellate court.

He also cited a judgement by Musa Liman, a judge, who dismissed a challenge to the party’s leadership for lack of merit and locus standi.

According to Shaibu, Liman held that the internal party dispute was non-justiciable, declared the leadership handover lawful and said INEC was entitled to recognise the national chairman and national secretary.

He argued that Lifu, sitting at the same federal high court, could not disregard the earlier judgement, adding that the issue was among the legal questions before the court of appeal.

Shaibu maintained that Atiku Abubakar remained ADC’s presidential candidate, saying the party would defend its position before the appellate court.

“The law is on his side, not sentiment. We will defend that position before the court of appeal and keep the record before Nigerians,” he added.