Court clears Jonathan to contest 2027 presidential election

By Idowu Isamotu, Baba Martins (Abuja) Sani Ibrahim Paki, Kano   A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has cleared a former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, to contest presidential election. Jonathan’s eligibility to contest another presidential election became an issue because he took an oath as president in May 2010, when the former president, Umaru […]

By Idowu Isamotu, Baba Martins (Abuja) Sani Ibrahim Paki, Kano

 

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has cleared a former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, to contest presidential election.

Jonathan’s eligibility to contest another presidential election became an issue because he took an oath as president in May 2010, when the former president, Umaru Yar’adua died while in office and he was sworn as president. Jonathan was sworn in the second time when he contested the 2011 presidential election and won.

It was argued that if permitted to contest and win, he would have effectively spent 10 years in office, whereas Section 137(1)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution permits a president to serve a maximum of eight years.

The Appeal Court struck out the suit aimed at preventing Jonathan from contesting in 2015 and held that the president took his first oath of office on May 29, 2011 and that May 2015 would not be the end of a second tenure as claimed by the appellants.

It also ruled that “his becoming president 0n May 6, 2010, is an operation of a constitutional provision, following the demise of a president”.

Yesterday,  the court dismissed the motion filed by the plaintiff identified as Johnmary Jideobi, who also sought the judge’s recusal from the case for allegedly being frivolous.

Daily Trust reports that a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) being led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, last week offered a waiver to Jonathan as the only presidential candidate of the party.

But Jideobi had instituted a suit seeking an order restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as a candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

He had specifically asked the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from accepting, processing or publishing Jonathan’s name as a presidential candidate.

He asked the court to determine whether, having regard to Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, Jonathan remains eligible to seek the office of president again.

But delivering his judgement on Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu held that Jonathan could participate in the election as a contestant on the grounds that the matter had earlier been adjudicated.

Justice Lifu held that Jideobi lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit having not suffered any loss from his perceived Jonathan’s intention to vie for next year’s poll.

The judge, who said that a Federal High Court in Yenagoa and an Appeal Court had already held that Jonathan was eligible to run, said he was bound by the decision of the appellate court.

The court, while describing Jideobi’s lawyer’s suit as “an abuse of court process”, wondered why such a suit would be brought to the court after ruling by a court of coordinate jurisdiction.

Justice Lifu added that the suit was a waste of the court’s precious time, stressing that the Court of Appeal had also earlier resolved the eligibility of Jonathan.

“I am bound by the above decision of the Court of Appeal and this court, I have no more to add”, Justice Lifu ruled.

Speaking further, Justice Lifu awarded a N20 million fine against Jideobi in favour of the former president, Jonathan.

He equally awarded a one million fine against the plaintiff and in favour of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

 

PDP faction welcomes judgement

The Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, faction under the leadership Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, has welcomed the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division.

The party said the judgement has now opened the door for the Bayelsa-born former Nigerian leader to launch a presidential rescue mission.

Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the party in a statement said, “This judgment is clearly in alignment with the law and common sense, as laws cannot have a retroactive or retrospective effect.

“The suit, which, for all intents and purposes, was vexatious and a gross abuse of court processes, was a very unnecessary distraction that ought not to have been instituted in the first instance.”

The PDP also said the punitive cost against the plaintiff is also very much welcomed, as it will “serve as a deterrent to intending busybodies and irritants, who make themselves available for use by those seeking to derail democracy.

“This development, coupled with the screening waiver that our party had granted President Goodluck Jonathan, has made the pathway for his presidential rescue mission totally unfettered, especially as the primaries of the party to select all its candidates will hold on May 28, 2026.”

 

Jonathan brings new dimension- Prof Fage

Reacting to the development, Professor Kamilu Sani Fage, a Political Science scholar at Bayero University Kano (BUK), said Jonathan’s entry into the race will add a new dimension to the political equation, though PDP may not be as dominant as it once was.

“PDP or any party that is trying to woo former President Goodluck to its side is trying to capitalise on his past performance, thinking that perhaps he is going to provide a good opposition candidate to the ruling party. PDP is one of the major parties in Nigeria. So with or without Goodluck, if they choose any candidate, they will also be a good opposition party. But the fact is that they may not be as strong as they used to be when PDP was dominant,” Prof. Fage told Daily Trust.

He explained that Jonathan’s candidacy now means four parties; APC, ADC, NDC, and PDP, will likely dominate the 2027 contest.

“Before now, we were talking about major political parties like APC, ADC and likely NDC. Now with him contesting under PDP, the equation changes. Their entry will now add dimension,” he said.

 

‘Judgement consistent with the law’

Kano-based constitutional lawyer, Barrister Umar Usman Danbaito, said the judgement was consistent with the law.

He said, “The court decided that the plaintiff lacked the local standi to institute the action. And secondly, in interpreting the law, the court held that Jonathan has the right to contest.

“When he was first sworn in, it was as vice president completing the tenure of the late president, not as an elected president. So he still maintains the right to contest for the last time,” Danbaito explained.

Another Kano lawyer, Barrister Kamilu Ahmad-Paki, pointed to constitutional amendments. He said Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, introduced in the Fourth Alteration Act of 2018, cannot be applied retroactively to Jonathan.

“Jonathan was sworn in in 2010 and 2011, before the amendment came into effect. Therefore, the law cannot stop him from enjoying his constitutional right to contest. The judge rightly held that the prohibition does not apply to him.

 

 2023 court case failed to stop Jonathan

After the 2015 court case, another suit aimed at disqualifying the former president from contesting the 2023 presidential race was instituted but a Federal High Court in Yenagoa declared Jonathan constitutionally qualified to run, ruling that his 2010 oath of office was to complete the late President Yar’adua’s tenure.

Following that, a coalition of Northern groups in 2022 purchased  presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for him to  contest the 2023 elections on the platform of the APC, but Jonathan declined.

There have been pressure on the former president to contest for the office with his greatest selling point being that he can only serve a single term.

The latest appeal came from a group of  youths under the aegis of the Coalition for Goodluck Jonathan who visited his office in Abuja, urging him to join the 2027 presidential election but Jonathan responded that he would not rush into a political decision and needed to consult widely.