The Incorporated Trustees of a human rights organisation, Rights for All International, has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from participating as a candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
The human rights organisation also asked the court to prevent the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress(APC), from presenting the former president as its candidate.
These were contained in a suit marked:FHC/ABJ/CS:662/2022 filed by the organisation’s lawyer, Okere Nnamdi.
According to reports, the organisation is filing the suit on the premise that having taken the oath of office for the office of the President twice, President Jonathan was no longer eligible under the Nigerian constitution to stand for election as the country’s President and Commander-in Chief of the armed forces.
Among those listed as defendants are the APC, INEC, and Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
The organisation stated in a supporting affidavit that the 1st defendant, Goodluck Jonathan, had been twice elected to the office of the President and held the office on two previous occasions, it added that the constitution of Nigeria provides for both qualification and disqualification to contest the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
With regards to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration Act No. 16), which provided a new subsection (3) to Section 137 of the Constitution, the organisation wants the court to declare that, the defendant is not qualified to contest any presidential election in Nigeria.
