A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday declared that former President Goodluck Jonathan is eligible to contest in the 2027 general elections.
Justice Peter Lifu, made the declaration while delivering judgment in a suit seeking to bar Jonathan from participating in future presidential election, haven taken the oath of office twice as president.
An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mr Jideobi Johnmary, had, in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, queried Jonathan’s eligibility on the premise that he had already been sworn in as president on two occasions.
He asked the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting, processing or publishing Jonathan’s name as a presidential candidate.
He posed a lone question for 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?”
However, Justice Lifu in his judgment dismissed the suit on the grounds of being an abuse of court process.
He 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 the next year poll.
According to Lifu, the suit was a waste of the court’s precious time because both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal have already 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”, Lifu said.
The judge went on to slam a cost of N20 million against the plaintiff in favour of Jonathan and N1 million in favour of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Top Society had reported that a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the leadership of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, last week offered a waiver to Jonathan as the only presidential candidate of the party.
