Justice Peter Lifu has fixed May 18 for the hearing of a suit seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election after fresh issues delayed proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that the case could not go on Friday because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to appear in court again.
INEC had also been absent during the earlier sitting held on May 11 when the matter first came up for hearing.
During proceedings on Friday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, listed as the third defendant in the suit, informed the court that he had not been served with the originating summons by the plaintiff.
According to the AGF, he could not file any process or enter appearance because the court documents had not been delivered to him.
Following the absence of INEC and the issue raised by the AGF, Justice Lifu ruled that the hearing should be shifted to allow proper service of court documents on all parties involved.
The judge directed the plaintiff to put his papers in order and ensure that the appropriate parties receive the necessary court documents and hearing notices before the next adjourned date.
The matter had earlier suffered delay on May 11 after the plaintiff, lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, and his counsel failed to appear in court without any explanation.
On the same day, both INEC and the AGF were also absent from the proceedings.
Counsel to Jonathan, Chris Uche (SAN), had asked the court to strike out the suit over what he described as lack of diligent prosecution. He also requested that the court award N5 million against the plaintiff in favour of Jonathan.
The plaintiff is asking the court to stop Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as a presidential aspirant ahead of the 2027 election.
He also wants the court to prevent INEC from accepting, processing or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate for the election.
In the suit, the plaintiff asked the court to determine whether Jonathan remains qualified under the 1999 Constitution to contest for Nigeria’s highest office again.
According to the plaintiff, Jonathan had already exhausted the constitutional limit after completing the remaining tenure of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later serving a full four-year term after the 2011 election.
An affidavit filed by Emmanuel Agida stated that Jonathan became president on May 6, 2010, after Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010.
The affidavit stated that reports linking Jonathan to the 2027 presidential race influenced the decision to file the suit.
The plaintiff argued that if Jonathan contests and wins the election, he would be taking the presidential oath of office for the third time.
He maintained that the suit was filed in the public interest and to protect the constitution and Nigeria’s democratic system.