Jonathan’s Eligibility Case An Abuse Of Court Process — SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oba Maduabuchi, has faulted the recent suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging former President Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election, describing it as a “gross abuse of court process.”

Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Maduabuchi argued that the question of Jonathan’s qualification had long been determined by a competent court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with no appeal lodged against the ruling.

He maintained that until the judgment is set aside, it remains binding and final on the issue. According to him, any fresh attempt to reopen the matter amounts to “relitigating a settled case” and an “exercise in futility.”

“An abuse of court process is when you seek to re-argue a case that has already been decided by a court of competent jurisdiction,” the senior advocate said. “The Yenagoa court has spoken on Jonathan’s qualification, and no one has appealed that judgment. So, anyone taking the matter to another court of coordinate jurisdiction is simply a busybody.”

Clarifying the legal position, Maduabuchi recalled that the 2018 constitutional amendment — Section 137(3) — which restricts a person who has previously completed another’s tenure to one additional term, was not in existence when Jonathan first assumed office in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

He stressed that laws cannot be applied retroactively and that, under the constitutional framework at the time, Jonathan was eligible to contest for two full terms as president.

“The key question,” Maduabuchi said, “is what the law was in 2011 when Jonathan took the oath of office. Section 137(3) did not exist then. That amendment came into force in 2018 — long after Jonathan had left office.”

The legal luminary therefore insisted that the former president remains constitutionally qualified to seek re-election, adding that any fresh legal challenge on the matter “stands on shaky ground and undermines judicial integrity.”

The development comes amid renewed political speculation over Jonathan’s possible return to the presidential race ahead of the 2027 general elections.