Panic Over 2027: Jonathan’s Eligibility Case Returns to Court — Again

…Similar suits were dismissed in 2015 and 2022 as “spurious and baseless” by courts

By Yinka Giwa

Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is once again the subject of a legal challenge to his eligibility to contest the presidential election: this time in 2027, despite multiple court rulings that have settled the issue in his favour.

In a fresh suit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, a lawyer, Mr. Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party for nomination, and asking the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing his name as a presidential candidate.

The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, lists Jonathan as the 1st defendant, INEC as the 2nd, and the Attorney-General of the Federation as the 3rd. The plaintiff argues that by virtue of Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Jonathan, having completed the unexpired tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and subsequently served a full term after the 2011 election, cannot seek re-election.

However, legal experts note that the same constitutional question has been litigated, and dismissed, on at least two prior occasions.

In 2015, the Court of Appeal in Cyriacus Njoku vs Goodluck Ebele Jonathan ruled that Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the 2015 presidential election was not in violation of the Constitution. The appellate court held that his first assumption of office in 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death, did not count as an “elected” tenure, affirming his constitutional right to seek another term. That decision was never appealed.

Again, in 2022, the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, in Andy Solomon and Idibiye Abraham vs Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and INEC (Suit No. FHC/YNG/CS/86/2022), reached the same conclusion.

In his ruling, Justice Isah H. Dashen dismissed similar arguments against Jonathan’s eligibility, describing them as “spurious, baseless, and unsubstantiated.” The court affirmed that Section 137(3), introduced by the Fourth Alteration of the Constitution in 2018, could not be applied retroactively to disqualify Jonathan, who had completed Yar’Adua’s tenure before the amendment took effect.

Despite these precedents, Jideobi’s new suit asks the Abuja court to “declare Jonathan ineligible to stand for or occupy the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” and to restrain INEC from recognising his potential candidacy.

In a supporting affidavit filed by one Emmanuel Agida, the plaintiff describes himself as “an advocate of constitutionalism and the rule of law,” claiming that Jonathan’s potential participation in the 2027 race would amount to a constitutional breach.

He insists that “having been sworn in first on May 6, 2010, to complete the term of late President Yar’Adua, and later on May 29, 2011, for a full term, Jonathan has exhausted the two-term limit.”

Legal observers, however, note that the courts have already provided clarity on this matter. The consistent judicial interpretation is that Jonathan’s 2010–2011 tenure does not constitute a full term within the meaning of Section 137(3), as he was not elected into office in 2010.

The renewed litigation comes amid renewed political speculation over Jonathan’s potential return to active politics. Although the former president has not publicly declared interest in the 2027 race, his name has featured prominently in political discussions within and outside the two leading opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Democratic Congress, ADC.

The case has not yet been assigned a hearing date, but legal analysts suggest it is likely to meet the same fate as earlier suits, given the standing appellate and Federal High Court precedents affirming Jonathan’s eligibility under Nigerian law.