Abuja-based lawyer seeks to stop JONATHAN from contesting the 2027 election

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - A 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.”

Legal experts have often noted that this provision was introduced in the Fourth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (2018), following debates over term limits and succession after the Yar’Adua–Jonathan transition.

Jideobi, however, maintained that “if the former president is allowed to contest and wins, he would be taking the oath of office as president for the third time, contrary to constitutional intent.”

He said the suit was necessary to “preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s constitutional order” and prevent what he described as an “unconstitutional extension of tenure.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.

Under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 137(3) provides a clear restriction on how many times a person can occupy the office of the President through election. A person who completes the tenure of another president and then serves one full elected term cannot seek re-election again.

Jonathan handed over power to President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015 after losing his re-election bid.

If the Federal High Court agrees with the plaintiff’s interpretation, the ruling could set a major precedent for how the constitutional two-term limit applies to former presidents who assumed office mid-term.

Recall that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, argued that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) risks having no candidate in the 2027 general elections if it gives its presidential ticket to Jonathan.

Keyamo, a senior advocate, argued this in a post on his X handle on Sunday, August 31, citing Section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment).

He said the PDP has tipped Jonathan as one of its targets for presidential candidate because of the ex-president’s purported eligibility to run for only one term.

“But, if he is fielded, the party runs the risk of not having a candidate at all by virtue of Section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Amendment).

“The constitutional amendment was made AFTER the court judgment which cleared him to run in 2015, so nothing is decided yet on that new amendment, hence I use the word ‘RISK’ advisedly,” Keyamo argued.