FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has challenged a suit filed by a lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, seeking to restrain him from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
News Point Nigeria reports that Jonathan, through his lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, told Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, shortly after the matter was called for hearing.
Uche informed the court that a letter of conditional appearance, a notice of preliminary objection, a counter-affidavit, and a written address 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, given the importance of the matter, which boiled down to the eligibility of the former president to contest in the next election.
The senior lawyer said it was unfortunate that such a suit was filed by a lawyer who should know that this same matter had been decided by the Federal High Court, up to the Court of Appeal.
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Ndubuisi Ukpai, informed the court that the matter was for mention, but he was just being served by Jonathan’s proceedings.
He said he would need more time to respond
Justice Peter Lifu subsequently adjourned the matter to May 11 for the hearing of the ex-president’s objection and the substantive suit.
The judge also ordered that hearing notices be issued and served on INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the 2nd and 3rd defendants in the matter, who were not in court.
A lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, 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 the poll.
He also urged the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting Jonathan’s name from any political party or publishing the same as a duly nominated candidate for the election.
