Former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, has declared that former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot legally contest for the presidency in 2027.
According to Salami, the Nigerian Constitution expressly bars anyone from serving as president for more than eight years, a limit Jonathan has already reached.
He explained that Jonathan’s completion of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s tenure, followed by his own elected term, disqualifies him from seeking the office again.
Salami, in a comprehensive opinion article, argued that any such move by the former president would amount to a constitutional breach.
“It is painstakingly and dispassionately demonstrated abundantly to all and sundry that ambition of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest for the office of the president for the second term in the 2027 general election is effectively and undoubtedly shot down…” he stated.
The retired jurist warned that even if Jonathan were to contest and win, the courts would invalidate his victory, as it would contravene the nation’s supreme law.
