Atiku’s supporters petitions UN, EU, US, UK over delay in releasing CTC of Justice Lifu judgement

Supporters of the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC Atiku on Wednesday submitted petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja demanding the immediate release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of judgement delivered by Justice Peter Lifu on the leadership crisis rocking the party’s to ADC legal team.

The supporters under the banner of Friends for Atiku after a protest match early morning at the Federal High Court complex at the Maitama area of the Federal Capital Territory, proceeded to embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, and headquarters of the European Union and the United Nations in.Nigeria to submit petition to compel the immediate release of the CTC.

Chairman of the group, Aliyu Audu said the continued delayed in releasing the CTC of the judgement is denying the ADC the opportunity of seeking redress at the right time.

Recall that on November 5, 2026, the Justice Lifu delivered a judgment which nullified the leadership of Senator David Mark and the National Working Committee of our party.

The judgment also nullified all actions taken by the leadership, including the nomination of our party’s candidates for the 2027 general election, among them former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, as our presidential candidate.

The party disagree with the judgment and declared that it has the constitutional right to challenge it, but cannot exercise that right without obtaining the judgment.

Audu said “immediately after the judgment was delivered, our counsel formally applied for the Certified True Copy in accordance with the applicable rules and made the necessary payment.

“However, as of November 11, 2026, six days after the judgment was delivered, the Certified True Copy has yet to be released to us.

“Our lawyers have visited the court registry daily without receiving any lawful or satisfactory explanation for the delay.

“Meanwhile, we have credible information that the ruling APC is pressuring INEC to act on the judgment, even though the affected party has not been given a copy.

“This constitutes a serious obstruction of our constitutional right to appeal and raises concerns about the fairness of the judicial process.

“My Lord, this situation is a violation of Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, which guarantees the right to fair hearing.

“A judgment that cannot be obtained by the affected party for the purpose of challenging it cannot serve the ends of justice.

“The delay also undermines the constitutional right of appeal, which guarantees every Nigerian the opportunity to challenge a decision of a court of law.

“If a party can obtain a judgment against the opposition and that judgment is acted upon before the affected party can obtain a copy to appeal, then the right of appeal becomes meaningless.

“Democracy does not die only through military coups. It can also be undermined through administrative delays and the denial of access to justice”.

The Friends for Atiku therefore demanded that,

My Lord, we respectfully and humbly pray that: “The court registry be directed to immediately release the Certified True Copy of the judgment delivered on November 5, 2026.

“The delay in releasing the judgment be urgently addressed to enable our party exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

“The court take necessary steps to ensure that the rights of all parties are protected and that justice is not delayed or denied”

The party expressed confident in the judiciary and believe that justice will prevail saying it remain committed to democracy, constitutionalism and the independence of the judiciary.

At the United Nations headquarters, the petition was received and acknowledgement by Suzanne Su, Head of the Resident Coordinating Office accompanied by Ronald Kayanja, Head of the UN Information Center and Mahmoud Sinasi, Deputy Head of Security.

Aliyu told the UN official that the party is submitting the letter to draw the attention of the international community and appealing to use all possible diplomatic options to get the government of Nigeria to obey the law, let democracy thrive. L

He said “if you take the option of the court away from the people, it’s just going to end up being coronation and not democracy. The country is already fragile enough. The 27 years of democracy untruncated, that we’ve celebrated in Nigeria, that is still the hope of democracy in Africa.

“We are the most populous democracy in Africa as it is and the actions of the president and the government of the day through abuse of the judicial process and the various institutions does not in any way show that they are interested in upholding this democracy. And we are not going to let them get away with it. So we are going to exhaust every available legal means of seeking redress.

“But the bottom line is they won’t get away with it. Whatever way they want it; we are very prepared for it. This is our nation. We’re not leaving this country for anybody and democracy has come to stay.”

There was no response from the UN representative.

The petition was also copied to the Office of The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, The National Judicial Council (NJC), The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), The President of the Court of Appeal, The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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