Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to strike out a suit seeking to stop him from contesting the 2027 presidential election, citing the plaintiff’s absence from court.
Jonathan’s lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), made the request before Justice Peter Lifu after the plaintiff, a lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, failed to appear for the scheduled hearing of the case.
Also absent were the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who are listed as the 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.
Uche told the court that since parties had already joined issues in the matter, the suit ought to be dismissed for lack of diligent prosecution.
He urged the court to either strike out or dismiss the suit and award N5m costs against the plaintiff.
The senior advocate argued that the plaintiff, being a legal practitioner, ought to have properly prosecuted the matter or informed the court of his inability to attend proceedings.
However, Justice Lifu declined the request for dismissal.
The judge observed that there was no evidence before the court to show that hearing notices had been served on INEC and the AGF ahead of Monday’s proceedings.
Justice Lifu said he would rather “bend backwards” one last time to accommodate the absent parties in the interest of justice.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till May 15 for a definite hearing and ordered that hearing notices be served on the plaintiff as well as the absent defendants.
Jideobi had instituted the suit seeking an order restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as a candidate for the 2027 presidential election.
He is also asking the court to stop INEC from accepting, processing or publishing Jonathan’s name as a presidential candidate.
In the suit, the plaintiff asked the court to determine whether, having regard to Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, Jonathan remains eligible to seek the office of president again.
According to the plaintiff, Jonathan had already exhausted the constitutional limit after completing the tenure of late President Umaru Yar’Adua and subsequently serving a fresh four-year term following the 2011 election victory.
An affidavit filed in support of the suit by Emmanuel Agida stated that Jonathan assumed office as President on May 6, 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death a day earlier.
The deponent said speculations about Jonathan’s possible interest in the 2027 race prompted the filing of the suit.
“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 further contended that unless the court intervenes, a political party might nominate Jonathan in breach of constitutional provisions.
According to the affidavit, if Jonathan contests and wins the election, he would be taking the presidential oath of office for the third time.
Agida maintained that the suit was filed in the public interest to preserve the supremacy of the constitution and protect Nigeria’s constitutional order.
Jonathan had earlier stated that he was still consulting on whether to contest the 2027 presidential election.