2027 Presidential Election Survey: Jonathan's Qualification Dispute Heads to Appellate Court

A fresh appeal has been lodged at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, seeking to overturn the recent judgment that cleared former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election, with the appellant, Mr. Jideobi Johnmary, citing three grounds for appeal.

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The appeal is a response to the May 26 verdict of the lower court, which the appellant argues is a nullity, and he is urging the appellate court to consider his grounds and set aside the judgment.

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In his first ground of appeal, the appellant contends that Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered the judgment, "erred in law and occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice" by concurrently hearing a motion for recusal and the substantive suit on May 18 and delivering a composite ruling on May 26.

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This action, the appellant argues, breached his constitutional right to a fair hearing, as guaranteed under Section 36(1) of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he is seeking the appellate court to declare the judgment a nullity.

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The appellant had filed a motion on May 11, praying Justice Lifu to recuse himself from further hearing the suit, but the judge insisted on hearing both the motion for recusal and the originating summons together, which the appellant argues was a miscarriage of justice.

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By deciding the recusal motion simultaneously with the substantive matter, the trial judge, according to the appellant, put the cart before the horse and denied him a fair hearing, which is sacrosanct and entrenched in Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

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The appellant is arguing that the trial judge sat as a judge in his own cause, determining the substantive rights of the parties without first deciding whether he was supposed to hear the case, and this, he says, is a breach of his fair hearing rights.

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In his second ground of appeal, the appellant insists that Justice Lifu erred in law when he proceeded to hear and determine the substantive suit despite the pendency of a motion challenging his competence and impartiality to preside over the matter.

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The appellant contends that the lower court was duty-bound to determine the issue of recusal as a preliminary threshold point before taking any further steps in the substantive matter, and by fusing the preliminary challenge with the substantive merits, the learned trial judge acted without jurisdiction.

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The appellant is also challenging the award of punitive costs of N20 million against him, which he says is highly excessive, punitive, and unprecedented, and was awarded for exercising his constitutional right to fair hearing and access to court.

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As part of the reliefs he is seeking, the appellant is urging the appellate court to issue an order remitting the substantive suit back to the Chief Judge of the high court for reassignment to another judge for trial de novo.

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Apart from ex-President Jonathan, the other respondents in the appeal are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the appellate court has yet to fix a date for the appeal to be heard.

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The appellant had initially gone to court to query Jonathan's eligibility to contest the presidency, arguing that he had already been sworn in as President on two occasions and was therefore not eligible to contest again.

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He sought, among other reliefs, an order of perpetual injunction restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party in Nigeria for nomination as its candidate for the general election into the office of the President.

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However, in his judgment, Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no legal impediment preventing Jonathan from seeking a return to the presidency, and he dismissed the suit for want of merit.

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Justice Lifu noted that the issue of Jonathan's eligibility had earlier been decided by a division of the court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, and he was bound by those existing judgments.

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The trial court also found that the plaintiff lacked locus standi, having failed to establish any cognisable loss arising from his assumption that Jonathan intends to participate in the forthcoming presidential contest.

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While dismissing the suit, Justice Lifu awarded costs of N20 million against the litigant, to be paid to Jonathan, and costs of N1 million against the plaintiff, to be paid to the AGF.

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Although Jonathan has not formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election, there are speculations that he may be considering a return to the presidency, with the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) already offering him a waiver as the party's sole presidential candidate.