On Friday, former president Goodluck Jonathan contested a lawsuit brought by attorney Johnmary Jideobi in an attempt to prevent him from running for president in 2027.
Shortly after the case was called for hearing, Jonathan informed Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja through his attorney, Chief Chris Uche, SAN.
Uche told the court that on May 5, a letter of conditional appearance, a notice of preliminary objection, a counter-affidavit, and a written address were submitted, asking the court to dismiss the case.
According to him, they learned about the case through the media, which is why they had to file their procedures quickly given the significance of the issue, which ultimately came down to the former president’s eligibility to run in the upcoming election.
The senior attorney stated that it was regrettable that a lawyer who ought to be more knowledgeable about the Federal High Court’s and the Court of Appeal’s decisions on the same issue filed such a lawsuit.
Ndubuisi Ukpai, the plaintiff’s attorney, had earlier told the court that although Jonathan’s procedures were being served to him, the matter was for mention.
He stated that he would require additional time to reply.
In order to hear the ex-president’s objection and the substantive suit, Justice Lifu postponed the case until May 11 at 2:00 PM.
Additionally, the judge mandated that INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the second and third defendants in the case, receive hearing notices.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a lawyer named Johnmary Jideobi filed the case, asking the court to prohibit Jonathan from running for office in 2027.
Jideobi asked the court to grant a perpetual injunction prohibiting Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party in the nation in order to run for office, citing constitutional grounds.
Additionally, he asked the court to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from publishing Jonathan’s name as a legitimately nominated candidate for the election or accepting it from any political party.
Jideobi filed a lawsuit against the former president as the first defendant in case number FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025.
The attorney joined INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as second and third defendants, respectively, in the lawsuit dated and filed on October 6, 2025.(NAN)
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