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By Myke Agunwa
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has written to the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, protesting what it describes as the “unusual, repeated and suspicious” assignment of almost all cases involving the party to a select group of judges.
In the petition, signed by the PDP National Secretary, Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, dated November 19, 2025 and addressed to the FCT Chief Judge, Hon. Justice John Tosho, the party questioned why matters concerning its internal disputes and political processes are consistently being routed to Justice James Kolawole Omotosho, Justice Chijioke Nnamdi Odo-Lifu, and Justice Mohammed Abdulmalik despite the availability of numerous other judges within the FCT judiciary.
The petition, sighted by our reporter, stated that the pattern had become too frequent to be coincidental.
“My Lord, we are compelled to bring to your notice the growing concern within our party that virtually all cases relating to the Peoples Democratic Party are being assigned to only three judges.
“This trend offends the principle of fair hearing, raises legitimate suspicion, and creates the perception that judicial outcomes may be pre-arranged,” PDP wrote.
The party stressed that while it has confidence in the judiciary, the continuous assignment of its cases to the same judges undermines the appearance of impartiality.
“We respectfully insist that the present situation is neither random nor administratively neutral.
“It has created discomfort among party stakeholders who now believe that there may be an orchestrated attempt to predetermine the fate of PDP matters,” the party stated.
The petition specifically cited recent rulings involving party leadership disputes, congress matters, and injunctions sought by rival factions, all of which were reportedly assigned to the three judges in question.
The PDP maintained that the judiciary must not only be fair but must be seen to be fair.
“The concentration of PDP-related litigation before Justices James Omotosho, Chijioke Odo-Lifu and Mohammed Abdulmalik gives the unfortunate impression of forum shopping and undue influence.
“We therefore urge Your Lordship to urgently review the case assignment process to restore public confidence in the judiciary” the party stated.
It asked the Chief Judge to order a more transparent, equitable, and automated system of assigning political cases in order to avoid what it called “the dangerous perception of judicial favoritism.”
‘We make this request not in hostility but in defence of the integrity of the judiciary,” the letter stated.
As of press time, the FCT Judiciary has not issued any official response to the petition.
The issue comes at a time of intensified legal battles within the PDP factions led by Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.