Following the assignment of the case, the PDP said it filed a motion asking Justice Abdulmalik to recuse herself and return the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has explained why it withdrew its suit against the Nigeria Police Force challenging the alleged blockade and takeover of its national secretariat, citing lack of confidence in the impartiality of the Federal High Court handling the matter.
In a press statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the party said it filed a notice of discontinuance in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/2520/2025, which it had instituted against the police seeking an order directing them to vacate the PDP secretariat and hand it over to what it described as the legitimately elected leadership of the party.
According to the PDP, the suit was assigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, despite an earlier petition written by the party to the Chief Judge expressing concerns over the “obvious partiality” of three judges of the Abuja division of the court in matters involving the PDP.
The party said it had, in the letter, “exhaustively expressed our doubt and complete lack of faith in their capacity to fairly dispense justice in matters where PDP is involved.”
Following the assignment of the case, the PDP said it filed a motion asking Justice Abdulmalik to recuse herself and return the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
However, the party alleged that instead of first hearing and ruling on the motion for recusal, the judge stated that she would hear all pending applications, including the recusal motion, together with the substantive case and rule on them at the point of judgment.
“This in our view defeats fair hearing as we have indicated our complete loss of trust in her ability to be fair in the matter, or any other matter concerning the PDP,” the statement said.
The party said it subsequently exercised its right under Order 50 Rule 2(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 to withdraw the suit without the leave of court, noting that the notice of discontinuance was filed three days after the statement of defence of the last defendant, well within the 14-day window allowed by the rules.
However, the PDP expressed further concern over the court’s response after its counsel informed the judge of the discontinuance.
“Today, after our counsel informed the Court of our intention to discontinue citing the relevant rules, the judge listened to arguments by all the counsel in the matter and ruled, dismissing instead of striking out our case,” the party said, adding that the action “exacerbates our party’s subsisting fear about the impartiality of the court.”
Despite its complaints, the PDP said it maintains respect for the judiciary, but warned against the intersection of politics and justice.
The party quoted the late Supreme Court Justice Niki Tobi, who cautioned judges against political influence, stressing that judges must remain independent umpires in a democracy.
“It is our prayer that politics and justice do not meet and that our judges do not dance to the drumbeats of politicians,” the statement concluded.
The PDP did not state whether it intends to refile the suit before another court, but maintained that its actions were guided by the need to protect fair hearing and judicial independence.