2015: Legal battle to stop Jonathan begins

Will President Goodluck Jonathan be attempting to overstay in office if he runs in the 2015 presidential election?

Three “concerned Nigerians” last Friday renewed the legal battle to stop him from seeking re-election, arguing that it would amount to spending nine years rather than the constitutional eight years in office.

In 2012, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Cypriacus Njoku, had also gone to court seeking an interpretation of relevant constitutional provisions on the tenure of the president and the vice-president.

On Friday, Mrs Mase Daphne Acho, Mr Sarki Umar Saddik and Mr Murtala Abubakar filed a case at the federal high court in Abuja against Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiffs said Jonathan was sworn in as president on May 6, 2010 following the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and was sworn in again on May 29, 2011 after winning the presidential election.

Having already spent five years in office, they argued, it would amount to seeking nine years if Jonathan and Sambo contest again in 2015.

They argued that in the case of Buba Marwa v Murtala Nyako, the supreme court ruled that Nyako could not spend more than four years in a single term, even though he was “away” from office for three months following the nullification of his election before a fresh election returned him to office.

The plaintiffs ─ two of them lawyers and the third an activist ─ want the court to determine the application of the combined provisions of sections 135(2)(a) and 137(1)(b) of the 1999 constitution in the matter.

Section 135(2) says: Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date (a) in the case of a person first elected as President under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office.

Sections 137 (1)(b) says: A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if  he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.

They want the oaths of May 2010 and May 2011 to be taken into cognizance in computing the number of years that Jonathan and Sambo have spent in office.

The court is yet to fix the date for hearing.

Jonathan has been practically adopted as the candidate of the PDP for the 2015 election, awaiting ratification at the December 6, 2014 convention of the party.

In an earlier suit filed in 2012, Njoku argued along the same lines, but emphasised the fact that Jonathan, having been sworn in twice ─ first on May 6, 2010 when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died and then on May 29, 2011 when he won his first election ─ could be sworn in for the third time if he wins in 2015.

He said the constitution does not allow the president to be sworn in thrice for the same position.

The court later ruled that the matter was speculative as Jonathan had not declared his intention of running for another term in office.

Also in 2011, loyalists of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar sued Jonathan, arguing that he was violating the zoning policy of the PDP by seeking to contest election after the death of Yar’Adua.

But Justice Ishaq Bello of the federal high court, Abuja, ruled against Yahaya Kwande, Dubem Onyia and Lawal Kaita, saying the PDP was yet to conduct its primary election.

They did not return to court after Jonathan picked the ticket.