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0 NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/court-clears-jonathan-to-run-in-2027-election/A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday cleared former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election, dismissing a legal challenge against his eligibility as an abuse of court process.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the ruling in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi. The plaintiff had asked the court to restrain Jonathan from presenting himself as a candidate and to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing his name, arguing that constitutional provisions made him ineligible after twice taking the presidential oath of office.
Justice Lifu rejected that argument on procedural and substantive grounds. He held that Jideobi lacked the locus standi to institute the action, having suffered no personal loss from Jonathan’s perceived intention to contest. The judge also noted that both the Federal High Court in Yenagoa and the Court of Appeal had already settled the question of Jonathan’s eligibility.
“I am bound by the above decision of the Court of Appeal and this court, I have no more to add,” Lifu ruled.
The court awarded N20 million in costs against the plaintiff in favour of Jonathan and an additional N1 million in favour of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). Justice Lifu also dismissed Jideobi’s motion seeking the judge’s withdrawal from the case, describing it as frivolous.
The constitutional debate around Jonathan’s eligibility centres on a specific set of circumstances. Jonathan served out the remainder of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s term before winning his own four-year mandate in 2011. Critics have argued that both tenures combine to exhaust his constitutional allowance. Courts at multiple levels have repeatedly rejected that interpretation.
A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki last week offered Jonathan the right of first refusal for its presidential ticket, positioning him as the party’s preferred sole candidate ahead of the 2027 poll. Tuesday’s ruling removes the most recent legal obstacle standing between Jonathan and a formal return to partisan politics.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/court-clears-jonathan-to-run-in-2027-election/
