A lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, on Monday, urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to bar ex-President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Citing constitutional grounds, Mr Jideobi urged the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction, restraining Mr Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party in the country for the purpose of participating in the poll.
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He also urged the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting from any political party MrJonathan’s name or publishing same as a duly nominated candidate for the election.
Th News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Jideobi sued the former president in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025.
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In the suit filed on Monday (6 October), the lawyer joined INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as co-defendants.
He sought one question for determination, which is:
“Whether in view of the combined provisions of the entirety Sections 1(1), (2) & (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and their conflated interpretation, the 1st defendant is eligible, under any circumstances [whatsoever] to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”
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Citing Sections 1(1), (2) & (3) and 137(3) of the Nigerian constitution, he argued that INEC lacks the constitutional power to receive Mr Jonathan’s name from any political party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria holding in 2027 and other years to come.
He also sought an order directing the 3rd defendant (AGF) to ensure compliance with the decisions and orders of this court.”
In an affidavit of facts that was deposed in support of the suit by one Emmanuel Agida, the plaintiff told the court that he was an advocate of constitutionalism and the rule of law.
He told the court that Mr Jonathan was first sworn in as Nigeria’s president on May 6, 2010, following the death of then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010, having previously been the Vice-President.
He said he recently saw on various national dailies and television stations reports on Mr Jonathan’s intention to contest for presidency in 2027.
“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.
“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,” Mr Jideobi wrote.
On his locus standi (legal right) to institute the action, the plaintiff maintained that part of his duties as a lawyer, is to forestall a violation of the constitution and to uphold the rule of law.
“There are chances that one of the political parties in Nigeria may favour the 1st defendant to stand as its presidential candidate in the forthcoming 2027 general elections to be conducted and overseen by the 2nd defendant.
”If unchallenged, the 1st defendant may enter the 2027 presidential race on the platform of one of the political parties in Nigeria and may possibly emerge the winner of the said election.
“In the event the 1st defendant is returned as elected and sworn as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come in 2027, it will mark the 3rd time the 1st defendant will be taking oath of office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In the event the 1st defendant is returned as elected and sworn as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come in 2027, the plaintiff as a Nigerian citizen, would become one of those under the governance control of the 1st defendant [who by virtue of his office would be saddled with the responsibility of executing the laws of the country].
“As a Nigerian lawyer trained in Nigerian constitutional law, the plaintiff has come across a provision in the Nigerian constitution stating that a person who was sworn in as President to complete the term for which another person was elected as President shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.
“The plaintiff knows that the 1st defendant was indeed, on the 6 May 2010, sworn in as President to complete the term for which (former) President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was elected as President as a consequence of the demise of the former President on the 5th day of May, 2010.
“The 1st defendant, after being sworn in on 6 May 2010 to complete the term of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was subsequently elected into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and sworn in on 27 May 2011.
”I know that if the 1st defendant eventually wins the forthcoming 2027 general election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (which is for a term of 4 years spanning 2027 to 2031), he will have exceeded eight years being the cumulative maximum years a Nigerian President is to stay in office.
“The plaintiff has instituted this suit in the public interest, in the defence of the rule of law and accentuation of the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the integrity of the Nigerian Constitutional order.
READ ALSO: What did Goodluck Jonathan forget at the Villa?, By Osmund Agbo
The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that, although some opposition politicians belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called on Mr Jonathan to seek reelection in 2027, the former president has yet to publicly make any comment confirming or denying any interest in running to return to the Presidential Villa.
His name has been mentioned in all the election cycles as a potential candidate after he lost his re-election bid in 2015 to former President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress.
(NAN)
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