Court fines plaintiff N1m over delay in Jonathan 2027 suit

A Federal High Court in Abuja has fined a plaintiff, Johnmary Jideobi, N1 million for delaying a case seeking to prevent former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.

Justice Peter Lifu blamed both the plaintiff and his lawyer, Ndubuisi Ukpai, for failing to diligently prosecute the matter.

The judge ordered that the N1 million fine be paid to Jonathan and described the repeated delays by the plaintiff and his lawyer as unacceptable.

While delivering his ruling, Justice Lifu said political cases must be handled expeditiously.

He said, “I have carefully and painstakingly considered all the submissions and prayers of the learned counsel in this matter. As this court has earlier ruled and ordered, this case has a character of politics.”

The judge ordered the plaintiff to serve all court processes on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation within two hours.

He also directed the second and third defendants to file their responses before 11 am on May 18, 2026.

The case was adjourned until May 18 for hearing.

The court noted that although the suit was filed on October 6, 2025, the plaintiff had still not served INEC and the Attorney-General with the originating processes.

Justice Lifu also recalled that Jonathan’s lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, had earlier told the court that the former president only became aware of the suit through media reports before being formally served.

The judge said neither the plaintiff nor his lawyer appeared in court on May 11, despite personally requesting that the matter be heard at 2 pm that day.

According to the judge, Jonathan’s lawyer had asked for N5 million as compensation, but the court reduced it in the interest of a fair hearing.

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