Former President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Federal High Court to dismiss a suit seeking his disqualification from the 2027 presidential election, describing the action as unfortunate and already settled by higher courts.
Jonathan, through his counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, formally challenged the suit shortly after it was called for hearing before Justice Peter Lifu on Friday. Uche informed the court that his team filed a letter of conditional appearance, a notice of preliminary objection, a counter affidavit, and a written address on May 5, 2026, praying for the outright dismissal of the case.
The senior advocate noted that Jonathan’s team learned of the suit through the media and acted swiftly due to the matter’s significance regarding the ex-president’s eligibility.
“It was unfortunate that such a suit is filed by a lawyer who should know more that the same matter had been decided by the Federal High Court up to the Court of Appeal,” Uche told the court.
The suit was filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, who is praying the court to bar Jonathan from contesting the 2027 poll on constitutional grounds. Jideobi seeks a perpetual injunction restraining Jonathan from presenting himself to any political party as a candidate and also wants the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) barred from accepting or publishing his name as a nominated candidate.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, Jonathan is listed as the 1st defendant, with INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation as 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Ndubuisi Ukpai, told the court the matter was for mention and requested more time to respond after being served by Jonathan’s team.
Justice Lifu adjourned proceedings to May 11 for the hearing of the ex-President’s preliminary objection and the substantive suit. He also directed that hearing notices be served on INEC and the AGF, who were absent from the proceedings.
The development comes amid growing speculation about Jonathan’s potential return to the presidential race in 2027.
