Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 15 for definite hearing in a suit seeking to restrain former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
The case was filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi.
Justice Lifu adjourned the matter on Monday after the plaintiff and his counsel failed to appear in court and did not provide any explanation for their absence.
Also absent from the proceedings were the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, listed as the second and third defendants in the suit.
Counsel to Jonathan, Chris Uche (SAN), urged the court to strike out the case for lack of diligent prosecution, arguing that the matter should be dismissed with substantial costs.
However, Justice Lifu noted that there was no evidence that hearing notices had been served on INEC and the AGF, making it inappropriate to strike out the suit at this stage.
The judge said he would “bend backwards” to accommodate the plaintiff and the absent defendants one final time and ordered that hearing notices be served on all parties before the next adjourned date.
On the request by Jonathan’s lawyer for a N5 million cost award, the court ordered that the “cost be in the cost.”
In the suit, Jideobi is seeking an order preventing Jonathan from presenting himself as a presidential candidate for any political party in the 2027 election.
He also asked the court to stop INEC from accepting, processing, or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate.
The plaintiff urged the court to determine whether, under Sections 1(1), (2), (3), and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, Jonathan remains eligible to contest for the presidency again.
According to the plaintiff, Jonathan had already exhausted the constitutional two-term limit after completing the tenure of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua following his death in 2010 and subsequently serving a full four-year term after winning the 2011 election.
An affidavit filed by Emmanuel Agida in support of the suit stated that recent reports suggesting Jonathan could join the 2027 presidential race prompted the legal action.
“The plaintiff believes that the 1st defendant, having completed the unexpired term of late President Yar’Adua and subsequently served a full term after the 2011 election, has exhausted the constitutional limit of two tenures as president,” the affidavit stated.
The plaintiff argued that unless the court intervenes, Jonathan could be nominated by a political party in violation of constitutional provisions.
Jonathan had earlier stated that he was still consulting on whether to participate in the 2027 presidential race.
