Former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, on Monday urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss an application seeking the recusal of Justice Peter Lifu from a suit challenging Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The plaintiff, lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, had filed a motion asking Justice Lifu to withdraw from the matter over alleged bias. The application, supported by an affidavit deposed to by his counsel, Ndubuisi Ukpai, sought the judge’s recusal from further proceedings in the case.
Counsel to the former president, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, strongly opposed the application, describing it as frivolous, baseless and founded on gross misrepresentation.
Uche informed the court that a five-paragraph counter-affidavit had been filed on May 12 in opposition to the motion, urging the court to rely on its records which, according to him, had already dismissed the plaintiff’s allegations as false and amounting to perjury.
He prayed the court to dismiss the application with substantial cost, describing it as a gross abuse of court process, and urged the judge to proceed with hearing the substantive suit.
Similarly, the AGF, represented by the Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Maimuna Lami-Shiru, asked the court to reject the motion.
Lami-Shiru acknowledged that a judge could recuse himself where impartiality may be affected, but argued that the plaintiff’s application was baseless, unmeritorious and an abuse of court process.
She urged the court to dismiss the motion with substantial cost, seeking N2 million in favour of the ministry.
Jonathan and the AGF also asked the court to dismiss the substantive suit challenging the former president’s alleged bid for the 2027 presidency.
After listening to submissions from all parties, Justice Peter Lifu adjourned the matter until May 26 for judgment.