An Abuja High Court on Friday dismissed a suit that sought to
bar President Jonathan from contesting the 2015 presidential election. Chief
Cyriacus Njoko, a member of the PDP, filed the suit in March 2012, seeking to
stop President Jonathan from contesting the 2015 presidential election. Justice
Mudashiru Oniyangi held that President Jonathan had not yet served two terms as
a substantive president. The first defendant (Jonathan) neither contested the
office of the president before 2011 nor got nomination of his party to contest
same election before 2011.
According to Justice Oniyangi, “Jonathan, to my knowledge, in
2007 contested the general election as a vice president and nothing more.
“Section 135 (2) of the 1999 Constitution spells out the tenure of the
president to be four years single term, while section 137 (1b) prescribes that
the president can only be administered with Oath of Office and oath of
allegiance twice…..” Justice Oniyangi went further, “In the circumstance of the
forgoing, Jonathan is just serving his first tenure, and therefore free to seek
nomination of his party or any other political party he so wishes to fulfil his
presidential ambition”.
However, Jonathan could be barred from seeking re-election
beyond 2015 if he failed to obtain nomination of a political party. Justice
Oniyangi described the suit brought against President Jonathan by Chief
Cyriacus as an exercise in futility since Jonathan has not declared his
intention to contest the 2015 president election.
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