2027 Presidential Poll: Lawyers divided over Jonathan’s eligibility

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– Senior lawyers in the country, on Wednesday, weighed in on the eligibility of former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election.

Their intervention followed a reported move by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to consider handing automatic ticket to the former President should he return to the party and become politically active again.

However, the said decision of the PDP threw up questions about Jonathan’s legal standing to vie for presidency again, in view of the fourth alteration to the 1999 Constitution, which forbade anyone from taking the presidential oath twice after election.

Reacting to the development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja, argued that former President Jonathan was not caught up by the said constitutional amendment.

According to him: “The relevant provisions on this vexed issue are both clear and unambiguous -Sections 137(3) and 182(3).

“They portend one term of office for any one who falls within the spectrum thereof.

“However, the provision of Section 137(3) cannot be applied to President Jonathan, who was sworn in and did a term under the old constitutional dispensation.

“It has to be borne in mind that Sections 182(3) and 137(3) were introduced in 2017 with a commencement date of 7th June, 2018.

“Thus, President Jonathan is still entitled to contest in my humble view. However, the provision of Section 182(3) would apply to bar a Deputy Governor sworn in to complete the term of a Governor after the commencement of the provision.

“So, such a Deputy turned Governor would be entitled to do no more than one term as a Governor.”

While supporting Mr. Akinlaja’s position, another senior lawyer, Mr. Elekwachi Nnabuihe, argued that the constitutional amendment came after Jonathan had already for a second tenure and failed.

He argued that since the law does not have retroactive effect, the former President could not be stopped by the alteration to the 1999 Constitution.

He said: “Section 137(3) of the the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 26) Act, 2017 is very clear and unambiguous.

“For emphasis, its states that: ‘A person who was sworn in to complete the term for which another person was elected as President shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.’

“However, section 137 (1) states that: ‘A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if – (b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.’

“The catch word here is ‘elected’.

“It is not in dispute that President Jonathan spent about 13 months in office while completing the term of his predecessor, former President Umaru Yar’Adua.

“He subsequently contested for the election proper in 2011.

“In other words, going by section 137 (1) he has only been elected into the office once.

“Despite the ambiguity that was occasioned by the introduction of section 137 (3), it is elementary knowledge that laws do not have retroactive effect.

“The amendment came in 2017, while Jonathan already vied for a second term in 2015. If he was legally qualified to contest presidential election at that time, nothing forbids him from doing so again. The amendment will only apply should the Yar’Adua scenario present itself again.

“As it stands, I believe that former President Jonathan is not legally ineligible to participate in the 2027 presidential poll, if he so wishes.

“As for the incongruity that was occasioned by section 137 (3), it is left for the courts to decide on it.

“I believe that the intention of the lawmakers was to bar anyone drom staying in office for more than 8 years, cumulatively.”

However, a human rights lawyer, Mr. Johnmary Jideobi took a different position, insisting that should ex-President Jonathan contest the 2027 election and emerge victorious, it could pose a different legal challenge.

“If President Jonathan contests again and eventually wins in 2027, he will have exceeded the maximum number of eight years contemplated by the Constitution for any person to occupy the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This is the fountain and foundation of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence explicated in the case of MARWA & Anor v. Nyako Ors (2012) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1296) 199 wherein the Supreme Court near exhaustively (in a consolidated appeal) dealt with the issue of tenure elongation by the some governors.

“This obviously raises a fundamental question of the eligibility of President Jonathan to put himself forward for an election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It appears that the jurisprudential floodlight afforded by the referenced Supreme Court decision points in the direction of his ineligibility,” he added.

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