A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has argued that it would be unconstitutional for former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest and win the 2027 presidential election.
According to Okutepa, under the 1999 constitution, Jonathan has already served 6 years in office, arguing that if he wins in 2027 and serves for 4 years, that will total 10 years in office.
He noted that the time fixed by the constitution is 8 years.
Speaking on Arise Television’s news programme on Tuesday, Okutepa recalled that he had maintained the same position since 2013 when he wrote an article questioning Jonathan’s eligibility to seek re-election in 2015.
He anchored his argument on the Supreme Court’s decision in Marwa vs. Nyarko, which, according to him, established that no individual can occupy the office of governor or president for more than two terms of four years each under the 1999 Constitution.
Okutepa noted that Jonathan first became president in 2010 after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, completing the remaining two years of that tenure, before winning election in 2011 to serve another four years.
He further cited the Fourth Alteration Act of 2018, which provides that any person sworn in to complete the tenure of another president can only be elected for one additional term.
Okutepa said: “As far back as 2013, I’ve had cause to write an article on the basis of whether or not the then president, Goodluck Jonathan was qualified to seek reelection in 2015 and my article was extensively published in Sahara Reporters.
“My argument then was based on the decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of Marwa versus Nyarko, where the Supreme Court was emphatic that under the 1999 constitution, a person can only be elected to the office of the governor or president for two terms of office of four four years.
“Now there is no dispute that President Goodluck Abele Jonathan was the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when, unfortunately, President Yaradua died. And he spent two years completing the tenure of office of President Umaru Musa Yaradua. Then, as of right, he got elected in his own right for a period of four years, which he spent.
“When he was seeking the re election to contest the election for 2015 I was of the view, and I still hold that view tenaciously, that he was not qualified to run for that office on the basis of the Supreme Court decision that interpreted the provisions that a person is qualified how many years to stay in office.
“And my argument was simple, devoid of any legalistic argument rooted in legal confusion, let’s make the simple mathematics. The 1999 constitution was the Constitution under which President Umaru Yaradua and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan contested election.
“The Constitution says you cannot qualify to run for the office of the president, except you would nominate a person who is equally qualified to become president as your running mate. So President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was nominated. He ran for the office of the presidency with President Umaru Yaradua. Unfortunately, President Yaradua died, and he took over.
“So as at today, under the 1999 constitution, President Ebele Jonathan had spent six years in office, two years as president serving the two the remainder of the tenure of the office occupied by late President Yaradua, four years in his right, making a cumulative years of six years now, if he runs for 2027 and he wins, question is, under what constitution did he run? 1999 constitution?
“How many years has he served under that constitution? Six years plus four years, making a period of 10 years. That one will be contrary to the decisions of the Supreme Court that the time fixed by the constitution for tenure of office is like the rock of Gibraltar that cannot be elongated and it cannot be moved.
“Secondly, before then, and to put paint to what looks like constitutional ambiguity, the National Assembly came with the fourth alteration act. And that fourth alteration Act was passed on the seventh of June, 2018 and that is the fourth alteration act that says expressly, a person who was sworn in as President to complete a term for which another person was elected as president shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.
“So the question is- did President Goodluck Jonathan complete the tenure of office of president Yaradua? The answer is yes. Did he win election for another single term under the 1999 constitution? The answer is yes.”
Why it’ll be contrary to Constitution if Goodluck Jonathan wins in 2027 – Okutepa