The controversy surrounding former President Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to contest future presidential elections took a new turn after a Federal High Court in Yenagoa ruled that the constitutional bar on a third term does not apply to him.

At the heart of the matter was Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which prevents anyone sworn in as president more than twice from seeking the office again.

Critics argue Jonathan had already been sworn in in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and again in 2011 after winning his own election. However, the amendment introducing the restriction only came into force in June 2018—three years after Jonathan left office in 2015.

Delivering judgment on May 27, 2022, Justice Isa H. Dashen agreed with Jonathan’s position that the law could not be applied retroactively.

He held that Jonathan had only been elected once, in 2011, and that his 2010 swearing-in merely completed Yar’Adua’s tenure.

The suit was filed by two APC members, Andy Solomon and Ibidiye Abraham, with Jonathan, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

While Jonathan entered a strong defence supported by an affidavit and the official gazette of the 2018 constitutional amendment, both the APC and INEC failed to appear or file responses, an omission the judge said implied tacit admission of Jonathan’s arguments.

Citing earlier appellate court rulings, including Njoku v. Jonathan (2015), Justice Dashen ruled that Jonathan’s rights could not be curtailed by a law that came into effect after he left office.

He concluded that the former president remains eligible to contest, should he choose to do so.

The ruling has reinvigorated speculation within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where some leaders are reportedly pushing for Jonathan to return as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2027 elections.