A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that former President Goodluck Jonathan is eligible to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The decision comes days after a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, granted Jonathan a waiver as the party’s sole presidential candidate.
The case was filed by Johnmary Jideobi, who sought an order stopping Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as a candidate in the 2027 election. He also asked the court to prevent INEC from accepting, processing or publishing Jonathan’s name and questioned his eligibility under Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu held that Jonathan can take part in the election. The judge also awarded N20 million in costs to the former president and N1 million to the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Justice Lifu said Jideobi had no legal standing to file the suit because he had not suffered any loss from Jonathan’s perceived plan to contest next year’s poll. He noted that courts in Yenagoa and the Court of Appeal had already affirmed Jonathan’s eligibility and said he was bound by those decisions.
The judge described the case as “an abuse of court process” and dismissed Jideobi’s request that he withdraw from the matter, calling it frivolous.
