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.
About The Author
More Stories
Osun Election: Davido Should Focus On Making Good Music To Win A Grammy— Edo Commissioner Kassim Afegbua Fires Back At Singer Over His Appeal To Trump
900 Nigerians Join the Dollar-Millionaire Club Within a Year as Population Rises to 8,100 After Years of Decline
𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗜 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 3 𝘄𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 yet 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 one through this laudable initiative — 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗿y expresses happiness