Wike’s allies ask NJC to sanction judge over ‘contradictory order’ on PDP convention

Three chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked the National Judicial Council (NJC) to sanction A.L. Akintola, judge of the Oyo state high court, over alleged judicial indiscretion and abuse of office.

The PDP chieftains — Austin Nwachukwu, Amah Nnanna, and Turnah George — are plaintiffs in a case at the federal high court in Abuja, with suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025.

The federal high court had restrained the PDP from holding its planned national elective convention slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.

However, on November 4, the state high court in Oyo ordered the PDP and Umar Damagum, the national chairman, to proceed with the party’s national convention.

In a petition to the NJC, Nwachukwu, Nnanna, and George, believed to be associates of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), who has opposed the convention, accused Akintola of issuing an ex parte order that contradicted a subsisting judgement of the federal high court.

The petitioners said the order given by Akintola amounts to “judicial indiscretion and abuse of office”.

“Even a non-lawyer knows that a State High Court lacks the authority to function as an appellate Court over a decision of the Federal High Court,” the petition reads.

“Therefore, the Ex-Parte Order made by Justice A.L. Akintola, despite the conclusive determination of a similar Suit at the Federal High Court with finality, undermines and further casts aspersions on the Judicial Reforms being championed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“By Justice A.L. Akintola’s Ex-Parte Order, his lordship had thus appointed and constituted himself into an appellate Court and had sat on appeal over the judgment of the Federal High Court and varied same via an Ex-Parte Order.

“His lordship cannot feign ignorance of the judgment of the Federal High Court on the same subject matter because Justice Omotosho’s judgment was not only widely televised on many National Media Houses like NTA, TVC, Arise News, Channels Television and others but also circulated and reported on many National Dailies like Daily Trust Newspaper, The Nation as well as other online News Media.”

The petitioners asked the NJC to probe Akintola over the ex parte order and “ensure judicial space is sanitised”.