Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday filed a legal challenge against a suit seeking to restrain him from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Jonathan, through his lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, appeared before Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja shortly after the matter was called for hearing.
Uche informed the court that a letter of conditional appearance, a notice of preliminary objection, a counter-affidavit, and a written address had been filed on May 5, urging the court to dismiss the case.
“The urgency in filing our processes arose from the matter’s importance, which centres on the eligibility of the former president to contest the upcoming election,” Uche told the court.
He added that it was regrettable that the suit was filed despite similar matters having been resolved by the Federal High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Read also: Ex-president Jonathan weighs return to power
Earlier, Johnmary Jideobi, Ndubuisi Ukpai, counsel to the plaintiff, told the court that he had only just been served with Jonathan’s processes and requested additional time to respond.
Justice Lifu adjourned the matter to May 11 at 2pm for hearing of both Jonathan’s objection and the substantive suit.
The court also ordered that hearing notices be issued to and served on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), who are the second and third defendants in the case.
Jideobi had filed the suit on October 6, 2025, seeking to bar Jonathan from participating in the 2027 presidential election.
He cited constitutional grounds and requested a perpetual injunction to prevent Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party or having his name published as a nominated candidate.
INEC and the AGF were joined as co-defendants in the suit, filed under case number FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025.
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