ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has formally petitioned the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Honourable Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, urging him to immediately stop assigning any cases involving the party to three particular judges of the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division.
In a strongly worded letter dated November 2025 and signed by the party’s newly elected National Secretary, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the PDP expressed deep concern and growing apprehension over what it described as the systematic and exclusive assignment of virtually all its legal matters—whether instituted by the party or against it—to only three judges over the past several years.
The judges named in the petition are:
Hon. Justice James Omotosho
Hon. Justice Peter Odo Lifu
Hon. Justice Abduimalik (full name not stated in the letter)
The PDP stated verbatim in the letter:
“My lord, it is of great concern to our Party that it would appear that all matters for the past few years filed in the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division either for or against our Party have always been assigned to the following three Judges only, namely: Hon. Justice James Omotosho, Hon. Justice Peter Odo Lifu, and Hon. Justice Abduimalik.”
The opposition party told the Chief Judge that numerous members have “complained bitterly” about the development, adding that the three courts are now widely perceived by party members and the general public as “courts of particular concern” whenever matters touching on PDP interests are involved.
While stopping short of directly accusing the judges of bias, the PDP made clear its fear that the continued concentration of all its cases before the same three jurists has created a perception problems and eroded confidence in the impartiality of judicial processes affecting the party.
The party therefore appealed to Justice Tsoho, in his administrative capacity as Chief Judge, to ensure a broader and more random assignment of all future PDP-related cases across the full complement of judges in the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
As at the time of this report, the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court is yet to respond publicly to the PDP’s petition, and the named judges have not issued any statement on the matter.
Clarion Newschannel is monitoring developments and will provide updates as they emerge.
PDP Writes FCT Chief Judge, Demands End to Assignment of All Party Cases to Three Specific Judges
