*As Court Rules He’s Eligible To Contest
A FACTION of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Taminu Turaki, has expressed joy at a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja clearing former President, Goodluck Jonathan, to run.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, in a statement backing the court’s decision, argued that the ruling aligned with both law and reason.
Ememobong stated that laws cannot work retroactively or retrospectively, as any law suit, insisting the original suit amounted to gross abuse of court procedures and needless distraction.
He welcomed the court’s imposition of costs against the plaintiff, saying it would discourage others from attempting similar tactics, as those filing such suits are “busybodies and irritants” being used by democracy’s enemies, whose role in derailing the nation’s democratic process, he criticised.
Noting that Jonathan, who his faction had earlier granted a screening waiver ahead of its May 28 primary, is not free to run for the presidency.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, May 26, affirmed the former president’s eligibility to contest the presidential election.
Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no legal impediment preventing him from seeking a return to the presidency, as the issue of his eligibility had already been decided by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Lifu dismissed as frivolous and an abuse of court process, the suit filed by an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Jideobi Johnmary, urging the court to determine Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the poll.
But the court held that the plaintiff lacked the legal right to institute the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, in which he queried Jonathan’s eligibility on the premise that he had already been sworn in as president on two occasions.
The plaintiff wanted the court to determine:
“Whether in view of the combined provisions of the entirety of Sections 1(1), (2) & (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and their conflated interpretation, is the 1st Defendant eligible, under any circumstances [whatsoever], to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”
Upon the determination in the negative, he sought, among others: “An order of perpetual injunction of this Honourable Court restraining the first Defendant (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) from presenting himself to any political party in Nigeria for nomination as its candidate for the general election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, holding in 2027 and years to come.
“An order of perpetual injunction of this Honourable Court restraining the 2nd Defendant (INEC) from either accepting from any political party in Nigeria the name of the 1st Defendant (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) or publishing the same as a candidate for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria holding in 2027 and other years to come.
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the 3rd Defendant (Honourable Attorney General of the Federation) to ensure compliance with the decisions and orders of this court.”
In an affidavit of facts deposed in support of the suit by one Emmanuel Agida, the plaintiff contended that if Jonathan wins the presidential election, which is for a term of four years, spanning 2027 to 2031, he would have exceeded the cumulative maximum eight years a Nigerian president is statutorily permitted to stay in office.
The affidavit stated: “The plaintiff believes that the 1st defendant, having completed the unexpired term of late President Musa 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.
“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.”
