A suit has been filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting in the 2027 presidential election.
In the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, a lawyer, Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, urged the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party for nomination, and to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing his name as a presidential candidate.
Also joined in the suit are INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), listed as the 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.
The plaintiff asked the court to determine whether, under Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Jonathan remains eligible to contest for president “under any circumstances whatsoever.”
He argued that Jonathan, having completed the unexpired tenure of 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 an affidavit deposed by Emmanuel Agida, the plaintiff said he filed the suit in the public interest to preserve the supremacy of the Constitution and prevent any breach of Nigeria’s democratic order.
The plaintiff maintained that if Jonathan were to contest and win in 2027, it would mark the third time he would take the oath of office as president — a scenario he described as unconstitutional.
He therefore asked the court to restrain both Jonathan and INEC from taking any steps that could lead to his participation in the 2027 election and to compel the Attorney General to enforce any order made by the court.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the case.
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