Court asked to stop Jonathan from contesting 2027 election

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

SUIT has been filed before the Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, was filed by an Abuja-based lawyer, Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, who asked the court to declare that Jonathan is constitutionally ineligible to contest for the office of the President of Nigeria.

In the originating summons, Jideobi prayed the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the former president from presenting himself to any political party for nomination in the 2027 presidential election or any subsequent poll.

He also sought an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to accept or publish Jonathan’s name as a candidate of any political party, and another directing the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to ensure compliance with any order of the court.

According to the court papers, INEC and the AGF were listed as the second and third defendants, respectively.

The plaintiff raised a single legal question for determination—whether, in view of the provisions of Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Jonathan remains eligible under any circumstance to contest for the presidency again.

Jideobi argued that Jonathan, having completed the unexpired tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010 and subsequently served a full four-year term after winning the 2011 election, has already reached the constitutional limit of two terms in office.

In a supporting affidavit deposed to by Emmanuel Agida, the plaintiff described himself as an advocate of constitutionalism and the rule of law. He said his suit was in the public interest to prevent what he termed a “breach of the Constitution” if the former president were to contest again.

The lawyer told the court that Jonathan was first sworn in on May 6, 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death, and again on May 29, 2011, after winning the 2011 presidential election. He maintained that a third swearing-in, if Jonathan wins in 2027, would violate Section 137(3) of the Constitution.

That section states that “a person who was sworn in 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.”

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