Court declares Jonathan eligible to contest 2023 presidency

The Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Friday, held that former President Goodluck Jonathan is eligible to contest the 2023 presidential election.

In a judgement delivered by the presiding judge, Justice Isa Hamma Dashen, the court held that Jonathan’s right to vie for the office of the President again cannot be stopped by any retroactive law.

Jonathan’s yet-to-be-declared 2023 presidential ambition has elicited several reactions from Nigerians including Human Rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Salana, who said the former President is not eligible to contest for the much-coveted seat in Aso Rock in2023.

Falana had said that Jonathan is disqualified from contesting the 2023 presidential election by virtue of Section 137 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

His position was however countered by another renowned legal practitioner, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, who said Jonathan is eligible to vie for the office of the President in 2023.

Quoting parts of the Constitution, the Human Rights lawyer stated that if the former President decides to join the 2023 presidential race, he is constitutionally permitted to do so.

He added that it would be “grossly unfair” to deny Jonathan the right to contest the 2023 presidency when the county’s extant laws and court decisions permit him.

Jonathan, who was Nigeria’s Vice-President between 2007 and 2010, has been rumoured to be vying for the number one seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general election.

On May 9, 2022, he rejected the presidential expression of interest and nomination forms of the APC bought for him by Fulani groups and pastoralist communities.

He was quoted as saying that it was an insult for people to buy the form for him without his consent.

He became President in May 2010, following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and completed the latter’s tenure.

Jonathan won the 2011 presidential election but lost the attempt to secure a second term in office in 2015, following the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s President.

Details shortly…

The Star