A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, dismissed a suit seeking to bar former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Jonathan served as president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, having completed the term of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later won the 2011 election.
But, a suit, filed by Johnmary Jideobi, had prayed the court to restrain former President Jonathan from running under any political party and to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), from accepting or publishing his name as a candidate.
Jideobi through his counsel, cited Sections 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution to challenge Jonathan’s eligibility.
The court’s dismissal of the suit has therefore cleared for the President Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election if he chooses to run.
The ruling comes days after a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki granted Jonathan a waiver and endorsed him as the party’s sole presidential candidate for 2027.
