Lawyer Seeks Court Order to Bar Ex-President from Contesting Again
A constitutional storm is brewing as former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been dragged before the Federal High Court in Abuja over his alleged intention to contest the 2027 presidential election.
In a suit filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, the court was asked to issue a perpetual injunction restraining Dr. Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party for nomination, or from being accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a candidate in the forthcoming general election.
The case, FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, also lists INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation as second and third defendants respectively. The plaintiff insists that, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Jonathan has exceeded the two-term limit allowed for any Nigerian president, having first assumed office on May 6, 2010, following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and later completing a full term after the 2011 election.
Jideobi argues that allowing Jonathan to run again would amount to a violation of the constitutional tenure limit, emphasizing that “a person who has been sworn in as President to complete another’s tenure cannot be elected more than once thereafter.”
The lawyer, describing himself as an advocate of the rule of law, said he approached the court in the public interest, to prevent what he termed a potential breach of Nigeria’s constitutional order. He maintained that if Jonathan is allowed to contest and possibly win in 2027, it would mark the third time he would be sworn in as President — an outcome the Constitution does not permit.
The plaintiff therefore seeks judicial declarations rendering Jonathan ineligible to contest, and restraining INEC from accepting or publishing his name as a candidate in any future presidential election.
No date has yet been fixed for hearing of the suit.
