Court Adjourns Suit Seeking to Stop Jonathan From Contesting 2027 Presidency

Hearing in the lawsuit challenging the eligibility of former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election has been postponed by the Federal High Court in Abuja until Monday.

The adjournment followed the absence of legal representation for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), one of the defendants in the suit.

While lawyers representing Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) were present in court, INEC failed to appear despite reportedly receiving a hearing notice.

Jonathan’s counsel, led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, informed the court that processes challenging the competence of the suit had already been filed.

Counsel for the AGF, J. D. Esho, told the court that the AGF’s office had not yet been served with the originating summons, although Jonathan had forwarded his response documents to the office.

Justice Peter Lifu, who presided over the proceedings, expressed dissatisfaction with delays in the case and accused the plaintiff of failing to prosecute the matter diligently.

Following an application by Jonathan’s lawyer seeking N5 million costs against the plaintiff for tardiness, the court awarded N1 million in favour of the former president.

Justice Lifu emphasised the urgency of political cases, particularly in view of INEC’s election timetable.

“The duty of this court is to ensure that political cases are given accelerated hearing and disposed of expeditiously,” he stated.

The judge ordered the plaintiff to serve all court processes on INEC and the AGF within two hours and directed the defendants to respond before Monday’s hearing.

“By consent of counsel, this suit is adjourned to 18 May 2026 at 12:00 noon for definite hearing of the originating summons and all pending applications,” the judge ruled.

The plaintiff, Johnmary Jideobi, had earlier asked Justice Lifu to withdraw from the case, accusing him of bias and demanding that the matter be reassigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.

According to the plaintiff, the judge denied him adequate time to respond to Jonathan’s counter-affidavit and written address by shortening the statutory response period from 14 days to three days.

He further alleged that the judge improperly introduced INEC’s election timetable into the proceedings even though none of the parties raised the issue.

“I most respectfully submit that the actions of Hon. Justice Peter Lifu have created a situation where I no longer believe I can receive a fair hearing,” the petitioner stated.

The suit seeks a declaration on whether Jonathan is constitutionally eligible to seek another presidential term after previously completing the tenure of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and serving a full term thereafter.

The plaintiff is also asking the court to restrain Jonathan from contesting the 2027 election and to prevent INEC from accepting or publishing his name as a presidential candidate.

According to the affidavit supporting the suit, a Jonathan victory in 2027 would amount to a third oath of office as President and exceed the constitutional limit of eight years in office.

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