Former President Goodluck Jonathan
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has faulted the conduct of plaintiff Johnmary Jideobi and his lawyer, Ndubuisi Ukpai, in a suit seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
The judge described their repeated absence and failure to move the matter forward as “unacceptable” and consequently awarded a N1 million cost against the plaintiff in favour of the former president.
Justice Lifu noted that although the case was filed on October 6, 2025, the plaintiff had still not served the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Attorney-General of the Federation, listed as the 2nd and 3rd defendants.
He also recalled that counsel to Jonathan, Chris Uche (SAN), informed the court on May 8 that his client only became aware of the suit through media reports before filing all necessary processes.
The court further observed that neither the plaintiff nor his lawyer appeared in court on May 11 despite personally requesting that the matter be heard at 2 p.m.
When the matter came up again on Friday, only lawyers representing Jonathan and the AGF were present, prompting Uche to urge the court to dismiss the case for lack of seriousness.
Uche argued that the plaintiff and his counsel showed “absolute disdain and disrespect to the court,” adding that, “The plaintiff thinks he can hold the court and other parties to ransom and stay back in the comfort of his house and drag all of us to court.”
According to him, “They think the courts are toothless bulldogs; the dignity of the court must be protected, my lord,” while asking the judge to invoke disciplinary powers against the plaintiff.
Counsel to the AGF, J.D. Esho, informed the court that her office had only received Jonathan’s response to the suit and had yet to be served with the originating summons filed by the plaintiff, while INEC was also reportedly not served with the court processes.
Midway into proceedings, Ukpai arrived in court and apologised, saying, “My lord, I am sorry. I am for the plaintiff. Our vehicle broke down on the way,” after which Justice Lifu adjourned the matter until May 18 for hearing of all pending applications and the substantive suit.
