Victor EzejaAs pressure mounts on former Nigerian leader, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to recontest in 2023 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legal experts have expressed concern that his re-election might open floodgate of litigations given the latest provisions of Nigeria’s 1999 constitution regarding the tenure of president.
The legal experts who were guests of Arise TV News Night on Friday, hinted that a proper interpretation of some provisions of the Nigeria’s 1999 constitution as amended about the tenure of president indicates that Jonathan may not be legally qualified to contest for the presidential position.
One of them, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Robert Clarke stated that going by the provisions of the constitution as it is currently, he would not advise Jonathan to seek reelection as the ex-president might likely face legal battles over his qualification for the position after spending his fortunes and time to win.
Since the call for the ex-president to run for election through the APC was made, there have been debates in different quarters on whether he is qualifed to run having served as vice president and president in the past.
Jonathan was elected as vice president with Umaru Musa Yar’adua as president in 2007 but the latter died in 2010 making Jonathan to complete the tenure in 2011 and got elected as president which ended in 2015 when Muhammadu Buhari was elected.
The veteran legal expert, Clarke explained that to address the case of Jonathan one has to look at what the situation was as at 2014/2015 and what it is today in terms of provisions of the constitution.
He stated that when Jonathan became the vice president and subsequently, president, the constitution provided that a person shall serve as president for two terms of four years each making a maximum of eight years, but with the recent amendment it now stipulates that any vice president that serves out the remainder of his former president can no longer under the present law be allowed to contest.
The SAN further stated that the former president having served out the remaining part of his tenure with Yar’adua and another four years of his own, is not qualified to run under the present law.
Interpreting section 137 subsection 3 which embodies the provision in question, Clarke said: “Practically speaking, the constitution must be operated as it is not as it was or for whatever reason; we have to take it as the constitution says, that once a president dies, and somebody else who is his vice president runs out the remainder period, can no longer take another term. That’s what the law says today.”
He enjoined the courts to interpret the constitution as it is currently, adding that whatever happened some years back before the constitution was amended is no longer relevant.
Speaking further on the implication of Jonathan going into the race, Clarke said “I have been Jonathan’s lawyer for over 16 months after he left office. I will not advise him as of now to go and contest election when I know that that section of the constitution today can be challenged and it can go anywhere.
“So, I will advise that we take the law as it is and prevail on any political party not to dance round that issue because they have to go to court. If Jonathan comes back today and wins, definitely there will be a floodgate of litigations.”
He noted that such post-election legal hassles is not desired for the country that is fraught with many challenges it needs to resolve for national development.
Another legal expert in the programme, Malachy Ugwumadu, aligned with the position of Clarke on the matter.
Ugwumadu, a former president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) said that in the eye of the law as it is today, coupled with some Supreme Court rulings which could serve as judicial precedent, Jonathan is deemed to have taken oath of office two times- one, when he became the substantive president after the death of Yar’adua in 2010 and secondly, when was elected in 2011 for the same position.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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