The coast is now virtually clear for President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election after an Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama District declared him eligible to contest if he so wishes.
The court, presided by Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, further held that President Jonathan’s tenure of office begins to count from 29th May 2011 when he was sworn into office as elected president of Nigeria and not 6th May 2010 when he assumed office following former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s death.
Justice Oniyangi stated this while ruling on the suit filed by Mr. Cyriacus Njoku against President Jonathan’s tenure.
The court held that Jonathan assumed office as President after the demise of late former Yar’Adua in line with what the National Assembly aptly described as doctrine of necessity and not as a result of him emerging as a winner in any bye election.
“After the death of Umar Yar’Adua, there was no election or bye election; President Jonathan was merely asked to assume the office of the President in line with doctrine of necessity,” Justice Oniyangi said.
“He was not elected as President but was made to assume office by virtue of Yar’Adua’s death. Having exhausted the late President’s tenure, he sought for his party’s ticket and ran for the office of the President successfully in 2011 general election.
“He is, therefore, currently serving his first tenure of office and if he so wishes, he is eligible to further seek his party’s ticket through the party’s primary election and to run for office in 2015.”
Justice Oniyangi, however, stated that his judgment does not in any way make President Jonathan an automatic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that it should not be misconstrued to mean that Jonathan has become an automatic candidate of the party for the election.
The court also held that Njoku’s suit, as presently constituted, does not disclose any cause of action.
President Jonathan, through his lawyer, Mr. Ade Okeanya- Inneh (SAN), in the course of hearing the matter, insisted that he is currently running his first term of four years in office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as provided by the constitution and that the same constitution makes provisions for a president to contest for not more than two terms of four years each.
Okeaya-Inneh had also argued that Jonathan has not indicated or announced anywhere, whether in words or writing, that he will contest for the presidential election to be conducted in 2015. He therefore urged the court to dismiss the suit in the interest of justice.
Justice Oniyangi also held that Mr. Njoku’s suit is premature at this time, since the president has not obtained any form from his party for the 2015 election neither has the PDP commenced its primary elections for the purpose of selecting its flag bearer for the 2015 presidential election. He noted that Njoku ought to have waited for the PDP to have commenced primary election and then complain if their process is breached since nomination and sponsorship of candidates for any election is an internal affair of the party.
The court declined to restrain the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) from submitting and accepting President Goodluck Jonathan’s name as a candidate for the election.
Cyriakus Njoku had filed the suit seeking an order to restrain President Jonathan from running for office in 2015 as, according to him, it will amount to a breach of the constitutional provision that stipulates a period of not more than eight years for occupants of the office of the President.
Njoku’s contention was that Jonathan first took oath of office and oath of allegiance on the 6th May 2010, following the death of his predecessor, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’adua with whom he (Jonathan) was first elected in 2007 and later took another oath of office and allegiance on the 29th May 2011 for the purpose of executing the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Reacting to the ruling, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) commended the Federal High Court in Abuja, describing the ruling as yet another victory for the nation’s democracy.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who released a statement minutes after the ruling, said the judgment had laid to rest debates on whether or not the president is constitutionally eligible to contest the 2015 election, adding that it now depends on the party and Nigerians to decide when the time comes.
Observing that the ruling has freed the nation from the shackles of intimidation and harassment by some desperate elements seeking to impose themselves on Nigerians, the party praised the Judiciary for restating the freedom and right of every Nigerian to seek any office under the constitution.
“The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) applauds the ruling by the FCT High Court that President Goodluck Jonathan, as a Nigerian, has the constitutionally guaranteed right to seek re-election in 2015,” a part of the statement read..
“This landmark ruling is yet another victory to the nation’s democracy. It has laid to rest the unnecessary debate on whether or not the president is constitutionally eligible to seek re-election in 2015….
“The import of this judgment is that it is now left for the PDP as party and Nigerians to decide, through legitimate processes, whether or not to return President Jonathan to the Presidency in 2015 if he indicates interest.
“With the ruling, it is now left for the President, the PDP and the people to decide and not for some people to try to stop others from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights through intimidations and harassment.”
PDP further urged Nigerians to remain law-abiding and resist all attempts by “desperate politicians” to truncate the system by distorting facts of the law, and
assured that it would continue to focus on the welfare of Nigerians in line with the Transformation Agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration.
