Second lawsuit to disqualify Goodluck Jonathan from the 2027 presidential election is dismissed.

A lawsuit filed by lawyer Johnmary Jideobi to bar former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election has encountered another setback during the hearing process.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Odo Lifu, was unable to hold a definitive hearing on Friday because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was again absent from the courtroom.

INEC had also boycotted the court session on May 11, when the case was first scheduled for hearing.

During the proceedings, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice—who is the third defendant—told the court that he had never been served with an originating summons by the plaintiff, preventing him from appearing or filing any response.

Faced with these challenges, Justice Lifu decided that it would be in the best interest of justice and a fair hearing to postpone the case. He set a new hearing date of May 18 and ordered the plaintiff to prepare the case properly by serving the appropriate parties with an originating summons and hearing notices.

On May 11, Justice Lifu had originally scheduled a definitive hearing for May 15.

The judge was forced to reschedule after the plaintiff, Jideobi, and his lawyer failed to appear in court on May 11 without providing any notice.

In addition to the plaintiff’s absence, INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation—who are the second and third defendants—were also not present on May 11.

Following the absence of the plaintiff and the two defendants, Chris Uche, SAN, who represents former President Goodluck Jonathan, applied to the court to strike out the suit for lack of diligent prosecution.

Uche argued that the suit should be dismissed, with a cost of N5 million awarded against the plaintiff and payable to Jonathan.

Johnmary Jideobi filed the case seeking an order to prevent Jonathan from presenting himself as a candidate for any political party in the 2027 election. He also asked the court to stop INEC from accepting, processing, or publishing Jonathan’s name as a presidential candidate.

In the suit, the plaintiff asked the court to determine whether, based on sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, Jonathan remains eligible to contest for Nigeria’s highest office again.

According to the plaintiff, Jonathan has already exhausted the constitutional limit for the office after completing the tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and subsequently serving a full four‑year term following the 2011 election.

An affidavit filed in support of the suit by Emmanuel Agida stated that Jonathan assumed office as President on May 6, 2010, after Yar’Adua died a day earlier.

Agida said that reports suggesting Jonathan might be interested in the 2027 election prompted the decision to approach the court with the suit.

“The plaintiff believes that the first defendant, having completed the unexpired term of the late President Yar’Adua and subsequently served a full term after the 2011 election, has exhausted the constitutional limit of two tenures as president,” the affidavit stated.

The plaintiff further argued that, unless the court intervenes, a political party could nominate Jonathan for the election in violation of constitutional provisions.

According to the affidavit, if Jonathan contests and wins the election, he would be taking the presidential oath of office for the third time.

Agida maintained that the suit was filed in the public interest and to uphold the supremacy of the constitution and preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s constitutional order.