The Federal High Court has announced its 2025 Christmas vacation and listed the judges who will preside over cases during the break. The vacation begins on December 19, and court sittings will resume across all judicial divisions on January 7, 2026
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday by the court’s Director of Information, Dr Catherine Christopher.
In the statement titled “Notice of 2025 Christmas Vacation and Roaster for Vacation Judges,” Christopher said the schedule was issued in line with a circular signed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
“The Federal High Court hereby issues notice of its 2025 Christmas Vacation as well as the approved Roster of Vacation Judges.
“The court will commence its Christmas Vacation for the year 2025 on Dec. 19.
“This vacation schedule is issued pursuant to Order 46, Rule 4(c) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 (as amended).
“Court sittings shall resume in all Judicial Divisions on Jan. 7, 2026.
“During the vacation, the core judicial divisions are Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt. will remain operational and accessible to the litigating public,” the statement read.
Matters that will be entertained during vacation
Christopher explained that only matters relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights, the arrest or release of vessels, and issues of urgent national importance would be heard by vacation judges.
She added that each of the key judicial divisions would assign specific judges to sit throughout the vacation period.
List of vacation judges
- For Abuja, Justice Emeka Nwite and Justice Musa Liman will sit during the break.
- For Lagos, Justice Akintayo Aluko and Justice Isaac Dipeolu will preside over vacation matters.
- At the Port Harcourt division, Justice P. M. Ayua and Justice A. T. Mohammed will be on duty.
- In Enugu, Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo will serve as the vacation judge.
Christopher noted that the Honourable Chief Judge, Hon. Justice John T. Tsoho, KSS, OFR, FCIArb. (UK), extends his warm wishes for a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all Honourable Judges.
What you should know
Earlier this year, the Federal High Court of Nigeria announced its practice directions on the newly introduced Electronic Affidavit (E-Affidavit) system, aimed at ensuring data protection and a user-friendly automated process for deposing affidavits in court.
The practice direction was approved by the Chief Judge, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, under the powers conferred by Orders 57 and 58 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019.
Following this, the Federal High Court headquarters has set June 20, 2025, as the final date for manual filing of new cases in the Lagos Judicial Division. From June 23, 2025, e-filing became the standard procedure. Cases filed before the transition date continued to be processed manually until fully concluded.
Lawyers have been warned that understating the amount claimed or misdeclaring documents, resulting in under-assessment of prescribed fees, will attract a penalty of N10,000 per filing in addition to the balance due.
