The speculation surrounding the 2027 political ambition of former President Goodluck Jonathan under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a different twist on Monday.
DAILY POST reports that Jonathan was on Monday dragged to a Federal High Court in Abuja over his bid to participate in the 2027 election.
It could be recalled that a former Minister of Information and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Professor Jerry Gana, had confirmed that Jonathan will run in 2027 as the PDP’s presidential candidate.
Gana spoke a few days ago in Minna after the election of new officials by the Niger State chapter of PDP.
Gana said, “In 2015, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said his ambition is not worth the blood of Nigerians. After him another president ruled for eight years and now another has ruled for two years.
“Nigerians have seen the difference and the difference is very clear. Nigerians are now asking us to bring back our friend, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“I can confirm that Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will contest the presidential election in 2027 as PDP candidate and you will vote for him to return as President again.”
Ever since that comment was made, the presidency has not hidden the fact that it is uncomfortable with Jonathan joining the race.
In a quick turn of events, a lawyer, Mr. Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, in a suit specifically marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/ 2025, is now asking the court to disqualify Jonathan.
The court is being asked to issue an order of perpetual injunction, restraining former Goodluck from presenting himself to any political party in the country for the purpose of contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Jideobi is also urging the court to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from accepting from any political party, Jonathan’s name or publishing same as a duly nominated candidate for the presidential contest.
While ex-President Jonathan was cited as the 1st defendant in the matter, both INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation, were listed as 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.
Upon the determination of the question, the plaintiff sought to wit:
“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 amendd and their conflated interpretation, the 1st Defendant is eligible, under any circumstances [whatsoever] to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”
Jonathan was a disaster – Presidency
DAILY POST recalls that earlier last week, the administration of President Bola Tinubu had attacked the record of Jonathan’s presidency, saying the former leader’s performance in office was “disastrous.”
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga threw the attack in a statement wherein he challenged the former president to contest against Tinubu in 2027.
Onanuga said his statement was partly in response to the effort by former minister Gana to “draft former President Goodluck Jonathan into the 2027 presidential race” on the platform of the former ruling party, PDP.
DAILY POST reported that although Jonathan has not declared his intention to run for a second term in office, some politicians, including Gana, have called on him to do so.
However, Tinubu’s government is not waiting for Jonathan to make a declaration before attacking him.
“Let us remind ourselves about Jonathan’s record. We cannot forget in a hurry how his regime, devoid of any clear economic agenda, engaged in frivolous spending, ran the economy aground and put the country in dire straits,” Onanuga wrote.
The presidential spokesman also questioned the eligibility of the ex-President for another term in office.
“But Jonathan will have his date in the court of the land. Indeed, the jury will determine whether Jonathan, who was sworn in twice as president, satisfies the constitutional requirements and is eligible to contest the presidency and be sworn in, if successful, for a third term in office,” Onanuga added.
DAILY POST recalls that Jonathan was first sworn in as president in 2010 to complete the term of late President Umaru Yar’Adua who died in office.
Jonathan won the 2011 election and was sworn in for a full term before losing re-election to late President Muhammadu Buhari.
‘Abuse of court process’ – SAN dismisses suit on Jonathan’s qualification
On Tuesday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Oba Maduabuchi, described the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the eligibility of former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election as an abuse of court process.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Maduabuchi said the issue of Jonathan’s qualification had already been settled by a competent court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and that no appeal had been filed against that judgment.
He stated that until the existing judgment was overturned, it remained the valid legal position, adding that anyone attempting to relitigate the matter was “simply abusing the process of the court and is a busy body”.
The senior lawyer explained that the 2018 constitutional amendment — Section 137(3), which limits a person to one further term if they have previously completed another’s tenure — did not exist when Jonathan first took the oath of office in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Maduabuchi maintained that the law cannot be applied retroactively and that there was no legal restriction preventing Jonathan from seeking two full terms as President under the constitutional provisions in effect at the time.
He said: “Let me start by saying that that suit in the Federal High Court Abuja is an abuse of court process.
“An abuse of court process is when you want to relitigate a case or an issue that has already been settled by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The issue of the qualification or non-qualification of Dr Goodluck Jonathan have been settled by the court in Yenagoa. Nobody has taken that issue on appeal. And until that judgment is set aside, it remains what the law is, and anybody who decides that he wants to take it to a court of coordinate jurisdiction is simply abusing the process of the court and is a busy body.
“But what controls a given situation is the position of the law when the act in the issue was done. What was the position of the law in 2011?
“When Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took the oath of office as President of Nigeria, what was the position of the law? Was Section 1373 part of our laws then? You already said the law came into effect in 2018.
“So when Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was taking the oath of office to complete the tenure of Yar’Adua there were no statutory limitations in existence then which could inhibit him from running his constitutionally guaranteed two terms.
“There was no inhibition. When in 2018 you brought in the amendment of 1373, did Goodluck Ebele Jonathan take an oath as president after the amendment?”
Jonathan will need overdose of good luck to win – APC
Also, the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, took a swipe at ex-President Jonathan and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
In a statement on Tuesday by its spokesman, Seye Oladejo, the Lagos APC mocked the PDP’s alleged plan to return Jonathan to Aso Rock, describing it as a desperate political move rooted in nostalgia rather than competence.
Reacting to Gana’s declaration that Jonathan will contest and return to the Villa in 2027, the APC said the former president would need “an overdose of good luck” to stand any realistic chance of winning the presidency again.
“If he chooses to run, President Jonathan will need more than an overdose of good luck to stand a chance. The landmines before him are numerous – legal, records, and fundamental questions of capacity,” the party said.
They will rubbish you – Okonkwo admonishes Jonathan
On his part, a veteran Nollywood actor, lawyer and politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, has advised Jonathan to stay away from the 2027 presidential race for his own good.
He said the Bayelsa-born politician should not even consider or contemplate entering the race.
Okonkwo, in a video shared on X on Friday evening, noted that Jonathan had served as a President and during this period of almost six years, went against certain conventions and norms.
The former Labour Party chieftain believes that giving Jonathan another four years would mean that the former Bayelsa State governor would be President of Nigeria for about ten years, having ruled for almost six years.
“My own advice is that Jonathan should not consider contesting for the presidency in 2027. He should not contemplate it,” Okonkwo said.
“The same forces that nearly destroyed his name when they were not in power are now in power, they will take his name to toilet.”
‘Devil’s voice not far from God’ – Kukah
Before now, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, had urged the former President to be cautious as he weighed calls to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking recently at the Democracy Dialogue of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Kukah praised Jonathan’s 2015 concession of defeat as a defining moment for Nigeria’s democracy, describing it as an act of sacrifice and honor.
He noted that Jonathan had the power and resources to resist the outcome of the election but instead chose peace, a decision Kukah said restored hope in democratic governance.
However, the cleric cautioned the former president to tread carefully in considering a political comeback.
Quoting former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, Kukah said: “The voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God. Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria.”
He urged Jonathan to reflect deeply, pray, and make a decision guided by conscience and the national interest.
He said: “I therefore want to end by saying, first of all, it’s a great honor, President Jonathan, for me to be here. When you took that decision on March, 31, 2015, he’s written a little book, which you should read ‘My Transition Hours’, when you took that decision, was one of those moments that it was between yourself, your conscience, your God against the run of play. On the 31st of March, 2015, even before the elections had concluded, when you made that call, you were answering what to me was more or less a divine call.
“But please, General Theophilus Danjuma, one of our greatest statesmen, President Obasanjo’s colleague, once said very often, the voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God. Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria. Think very clearly. Pray very clearly. Final decision, it’s your call.”
APC, Tinubu’s camp jittery – Analyst
Meanwhile, a Public Affairs Analyst and Communication Scholar at Peaceland University, Enugu, Dr. Nduka Odo, has said that the APC and supporters of President Bola Tinubu are jittery over speculations that Jonathan may contest the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY POST on Tuesday, Odo said the anxiety within the ruling party and the Tinubu camp was understandable.
According to him, “APC and Tinubu camps are doing the appropriate thing by being jittery over the permutations that former President Goodluck Jonathan will contest in 2027.”
He added that the ruling camp’s reactions to Jonathan’s possible return and to opposition figures such as Peter Obi were driven by fear of losing power rather than principle.
He urged the ruling party to acknowledge that “rabid attacks on potential strong opponents have become a mastered strategy,” noting that while they have a right to defend their position, their motives are clearly political.
Odo said, “APC and Tinubu camps are doing the appropriate thing by being jittery over the permutations that former President Goodluck Jonathan will contest in 2027. Everything they are doing and all their reactions are expected if we want to be honest with ourselves.
“This is why I disagree with analysts who condemn the reactions from Tinubu camp. No one sees a threat to their source of meal and keeps quiet. Jonathan is a threat. Peter Obi has been for a long time.
“What I disagree with is anyone who rationalizes that these reactions are not born out of jitters, that they’re altruistic.
“Just as they’ve been doing on other opponents, they began immediately to attack Jonathan. They send their attack and propaganda machines like Bayo Onanuga to leech Jonathan’s presidency.
“They may think they’re smart, but it is obvious to all that they do this out of the fear of losing the 2027 elections. Nigerians See this.
“I suggest they own up to the fact that rabid attacks on potential strong opponents are a darling strategy they’ve mastered.
“They have the right to present opponents in a negative light out of fear of losing the presidential seat.”
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