A five – member panel of the Appeal Court, Abuja, yesterday declared that President Jonathan Goodluck is eligible to contest the rescheduled 28 March, presidential election. The intermediate appellate court entered the verdict after dismissing in its entirety, a suit by one Cyriacus Njoku, seeking to disqualify Jonathan from contesting the presidential poll on account that he was caught by the provisions of sections 135 and 137 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution.
Njoku in the suit instituted about three years ago, before an Abuja High Court, had specifically contended that President Jonathan was not eligible to re-contest the 2015 presidential election, having taken oaths of office and oaths of allegiance as elected President of Nigeria on May 6, 2010, and May 29, 2011, representing a maximum of two times allowed by law.
He had also contended that Jonathan was also ineligible on account that having spent about six years in office as president, re-contesting the 2015 poll would entitle him to 10 years in office, which would have exceeded the maximum eight years of two terms allowed by law.
Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi had struck out the case on account that Njoku lacked the locus standi and that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action.
Njoku, who was aggrieved by the verdict of the high court, entered an appeal against the judgment at the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal.
Delivering judgment in the case, however, the fivemember panel of the court unanimously dismissed the suit after resolving two issues formulated for determination in the case in favour of Jonathan.
The Appeal Court had set out to determine two issues, including whether the trial court was wrong to have struck out the appellant’s suit for want of locus standi and whether the case disclosed no reasonable cause of action.
The second issue formulated for determination was whether the swearing in of Jonathan as President on May 6, 2010 to complete the unexpired tenure of office of his late boss did not amount to election and a tenure of office in view of the fact that both Jonathan and late President Umaru Yar’Adua had a joint ticket of four years tenure in 2007.
The five-member panel resolved the two issues against Njoku.
Justice Datinjo Yahaya, in a lead judgment that lasted 49 minutes held that Njoku had no locus standi to maintain the action against President Jonathan, having not disclosed any interest he had over and above other Nigerians or the injury he would suffer over and above other Nigerians if his suit was not decided.
He also said that the suit itself did not disclose any reasonable cause of action, Jonathan having not indicated his intention to contest the presidential election as at March 20, 2012 when Njoku ran to court to stop the president.
He said if anything, the claim of Njoku at the time was merely speculative and imaginary.
He said, he could, therefore, not agree less with the reasoning of the trial court which struck out the suit, adding the case stands struck out.
The court held that having decided the preliminary objection filed to the hearing of the suit in favour of Jonathan, there was no need going into the merit of the case.
Justice Yahaya held that it was absurd for the appellant to claim that President Jonathan was not eligible to contest the 2015 presidential election having taking oath of office as elected president twice.
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