The Court of Appeal in Abuja has declared President Goodluck Jonathan eligible to seek re-election in the March 28 presidential poll.
It held that as much as the President had only taken the oath of office as elected President only once in 2011, he was qualified to stand for election into the office another time.
The lead judgment delivered by Justice Datijo Yahaya was unanimously agreed on by four other members of the appeal panel.
Justices Akomolafe Wilson, T Y Hassan, Ekanem Joseph and M Mustapha, were the other members of the panel.
The judgment was in the appeal filed on April 16, 2013 by Cyracus Njoku, challenging the verdict delivered by Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, then of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on March 13, 2013.
Njoku had filed the appeal after Justice Oniyangi dismissed his (Njoku’s) suit and held that President Jonathan was eligible to contest in 2015.
Affirming the trial court’s judgment on Tuesday, the five-man panel of the appellate court held that President Jonathan could not be said to have earlier taken the oath of office as President twice as he became President upon the death of President Umar Yar’Adua, not through election.
The court held that Jonathan only took over the office of the President in 2011 by mere constitutional provisions.
The court noted that in Njoku’s appeal, President Jonathan was not elected as President in 2007, and that in 2010, he did not stand for election as President, but only stood for election in that capacity in 2011.
“He (Jonathan) has not been elected twice. He only completed the unexpired tenure of the late President Yar’Adua. His tenure started on May 29, 2011.”
The Peoples Democratic Party has congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan over Tuesday’s Court of Appeal ruling, which upheld his eligibility to contest the 2015 Presidential election.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Tuesday said the court ruling represented a positive step towards President Jonathan’s impending overwhelming victory at the polls come March 28, 2015.
The party described the verdict as a “victory for democracy and the rule of law especially in protecting the inalienable rights of eligible citizens to freely participate in the electoral process without any form of hindrance.”
It said the development has helped to enrich the judiciary and further deepened the nation’s democratic evolution.
The PDP also applauded President Jonathan for always remaining focused and upholding democratic principles, which enable Nigerians to operate in an environment that allows for full expression of fundamental rights.
Commending the judiciary for its stabilizing role in the polity, the PDP urged its members and supporters across the country to close ranks and stand on the platform of this judicial victory to intensify efforts for eventual electoral victory for the president and other candidates of the party in the general elections.
