Justice Isa Hamma Dashen of the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital has cleared former President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2023 Presidential contest.
The court on Friday held that Jonathan, who lost the 2015 election to President Muhammadu Buhari, could still vie for the highest office in the land.
The court’s ruling is coming on the eve of the ruling party’s presidential contest. Many have suggested that Jonathan may be contesting under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential after a group obtained the N100 million nomination forms for him.
However, there have been different positions on his eligibility for the 2023 presidential election.
APC, Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission are listed as defendants in the suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/86/2022 which is before Justice Isa Dashen.
Justice Dashen, who gave the judgement on Friday, also stated that Jonathan’s right to contest for the office of president in 2023 cannot be stopped by any retroactive law.
In an origination summons filed by Andy Solomon and Idibiye Abraham, the plaintiffs sought an order of the court stating that Jonathan is not affected by the fourth alteration to the constitution barring Vice-Presidents who succeed their principals from serving more than one full term.
Details shortly…