FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has challenged a lawsuit seeking to bar him from the 2027 presidential election, filed by a lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi.
Jonathan, in a preliminary objection filed by his lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, to challenge Jideobi’s originating summons, prayed Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.
According to the ex-president, the suit is purely speculative, founded on conjecture, premature and predicated on media speculation, as there was no nomination, no election and no cause of action.
“The court lacks jurisdiction to entertain hypothetical constitutional questions. The suit constitutes a gross abuse of court process, aimed at obtaining a pre-emptive political judgment, cosmetic joinder of 2nd and 3rd defendants is a mere jurisdictional artifice,” he said.
Jonathan submitted that the issues raised had already been judicially settled by a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court, Yenagoa.
The former president, therefore, sought an order striking out the suit for want of jurisdiction and as constituting a gross abuse of court process.
The preliminary objection, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, was filed on May 5 by Uche. The application was brought in line with Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
In the affidavit in support of the application deposed to by Emmanuel Tsebo, a litigation manager in the law firm of Chief Chris Uche, SAN & Co, he said Jonathan was first sworn in as president in 2010 to complete the tenure of his predecessor.
“That the 1st defendant (Jonathan) was thereafter duly elected as president in the 2011 General Elections.
“That the 1st defendant completed his tenure in 2015,” he said.
Tsebo stated that Jonathan had “not been elected as president more than once.”
He said the plaintiff (Jideobi) had no personal interest or legal right whatsoever and was not affected by the subject matter of the suit.
“The plaintiff’s suit is utterly speculative, academic, hypothetical, and not based on any real or existing dispute. The plaintiff relies on media publications and conjecture suggesting that the 1st defendant may contest a future election.”
The litigation manager, however, said that the ex-president had not declared any intention to contest any election; not been nominated as a candidate; and not participated in any electoral process giving rise to the suit.
Tsebo said one of the lawyers to Jonathan said “that he has read Section 137(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which was introduced by a constitutional amendment (Act No. 10 of 2017) which came into force in June 2018.
“That the tenure of the 1st defendant ended in 2015, prior to the coming into force of the said amendment.
“That the said constitutional amendment does not state that it applies retrospectively.
“That by settled principles of law, constitutional provisions do not operate retrospectively to affect vested rights.
“That at the aforesaid meeting, I was equally informed by the said Counsel, Darlington Owhoji Esq. and I verily believe him as follows:
“That there exists a valid and subsisting judgment of this Honourable Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, which determined the applicability of Section 137(3) to the 1st defendant, and a certified true copy of the judgment is annexed herewith as EXHIBIT ‘A.’
“That the said court unequivocally held that the amendment does not apply retrospectively to the 1st defendant.
“That the said judgment is subsisting.
“That the plaintiff’s present suit seeks to relitigate the same issue already determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“That this suit is a collateral attack on a subsisting judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.”
Tsebo also said that the joining of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter is a mere cosmetic jurisdictional artifice, designed to mislead. He, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the suit in the interest of justice.
Upon resumed hearing in the suit on Friday, counsel to the plaintiff, Ndubuisi Ukpai, informed the court that the matter was for mention but he was just being served with Jonathan’s processes.
Ukpai said a notice of conditional appearance, a preliminary objection, a counter affidavit and a written address were served on him previous day. The lawyer, who said he would need more time to respond, sought an adjournment.
Responding, Uche, who appeared for Jonathan, confirmed that their processes had been filed on May 5, praying the court to dismiss the case. He said they got information about the case through the media and hence, the need to file their processes urgently going by the importance of the matter which boiled down on the eligibility of the former president to contest in the next election.
The senior lawyer said it was unfortunate that such a suit is filed by a lawyer who ought to know more that this same matter had been decided by the Federal High Court up to Court of Appeal.
“It is so worrisome filing this nature of suit. I feel bad for this profession because things like this should not be commercialised,” he said.
Uche said he would love to apply that Jideobi, the plaintiff in the suit, is in court in the next adjourned date.
“Learned silk, keep your gunpowder dry,” Justice Lifu told Uche.
After counsel’s agreement, the judge adjourned the matter until May 11 by 2pm for hearing of the ex-president’s objection and the substantive suit.
He ordered all the parties to file and serve their processes before the next adjourned date. The judge also ordered that hearing notices be issued and served on INEC and AGF, the 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter, that were not in court.
NAN reports that Jideobi had filed the case, praying the court to bar Jonathan from contesting in the 2027 poll.
Citing constitutional grounds, Jideobi urged the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction, restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party in the country for the purpose of contesting in the poll. He also urged the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting from any political party, Jonathan’s name or publishing same as a duly nominated candidate for the election.
Jideobi, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, sued the former president as 1st defendant. In the suit, dated and filed on Oct. 6, 2025, the lawyer joined INEC and AGF as 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively. (NAN)
