REJOINDER: ADC'S "FIRE AND BRIMSTONE" STATEMENT IS RECKLESS AND CONTEMPTUOUS

REJOINDER: ADC'S "FIRE AND BRIMSTONE" STATEMENT IS RECKLESS AND CONTEMPTUOUS

By Okoi Obono-Obla 

The press statement credited to Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over the judgment of Hon. Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, is irresponsible, intemperate and a gross disrespect for the judiciary.

For the records:

1. The judgment date was not a surprise.

This matter has been pending since September 2025, when the Court of Appeal directed that Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 and related matters proceed to hearing at the Federal High Court for determination on the merits. The case was heard on its merits and adjourned to today for judgment. The ADC as a party was aware of the adjourned date. To therefore link a judgment delivered today to a rally held on 3rd November 2026 in Sokoto is mischievous and a deliberate attempt to whip up sentiments.

The court does not fix its calendar around political rallies.

2. The rule of law cannot be suspended for political convenience.

The ADC knew that its congresses, the emergence of the Senator David Mark-led NWC, and the nomination processes arising therefrom were subject to a live judicial challenge. Rather than await the outcome, the party proceeded with gusto, with recalcitrance and without regard for due process. You cannot hijack the structure of a registered political party without complying with its constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the judgments of courts, and then cry foul when the court calls you to order.

3. Threatening the judiciary is unacceptable.

To describe a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction as a "reckless judicial pen" and to imply that the judge delivered a pre-written judgment because of a political rally is contemptuous. It is an attack on the integrity of Hon. Justice Lifu. If the ADC believes the judgment is flawed, the proper remedy is an appeal, not press statements threatening that Nigeria will be set on fire.

No democracy survives where court judgments are obeyed only when favourable.

4. On conflicting orders of coordinate jurisdiction.

The ADC's reliance on the judgment of Hon. Justice Musa Liman of 2nd July 2026 is an argument to be made before the Court of Appeal, not in a press conference. It is settled law that where there are conflicting decisions of courts of coordinate jurisdiction, the Court of Appeal resolves the conflict. It is not a license to resort to incitement.

Nigeria will not be set on fire because Atiku Abubakar and his cohorts lost a case that had hung over them like a sword of Damocles. The presidency is contested through the ballot and through respect for law, not through threats.

The ADC should pursue its appeal quietly, respect the judiciary, and desist from statements capable of overheating the polity.