Court fixes May 8 for suit to bar Jonathan from 2027 presidential race

A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Friday, May 8, for the hearing of a case seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.

The suit was filed by lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, who asked the court to declare Jonathan ineligible to run for president again under the Nigerian Constitution.

Jideobi also sought an order restraining Jonathan from joining any political party as a presidential candidate and stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing his name for the election.

Jonathan, INEC, and the Attorney-General of the Federation were listed as defendants in the suit.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine “whether in view of the combined provisions of sections 1(1), (2) and (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, the 1st defendant is eligible, under any circumstances whatsoever, to contest for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

According to the suit, Jonathan had already completed the remaining tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua after he died in 2010 and later won another full term in 2011.

In an affidavit supporting the case, Emmanuel Agida said reports linking Jonathan to the 2027 election prompted the plaintiff to take legal action.

“That the plaintiff believes that the 1st defendant, having completed the unexpired term of late President Yar’Adua and subsequently served a full term after the 2011 election, has exhausted the constitutional limit of two tenures as president,” the affidavit stated.

He also warned: “That if the court does not intervene timeously, a political party may present the 1st defendant as its presidential candidate in the 2027 general election, thereby breaching the Constitution.”

The affidavit further argued that if Jonathan contests and wins, he would be sworn in as president for a third time.

“In the event the 1st defendant is returned as elected and sworn as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2027, it will mark the 3rd time the 1st defendant will be taking the oath of office as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the affidavit added.

Agida said the suit was filed in the public interest, in defence of the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the integrity of the Nigerian constitutional order.