On Friday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the Federal High Court ruled that former President Goodluck Jonathan can run for president in 2023. The judge, Isa Dashen, ruled on Friday that Mr Jonathan's right to run for the presidency a second time cannot be restricted by a retroactive statute.
In 2015, when Mr Jonathan sought reelection, he was defeated at the polls by the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, and his eligibility to run for the presidency a second time has been the subject of intense political debate.
In April, Femi Falana, a human rights attorney, stated that the former president cannot run in the presidential election of 2023, citing constitutional provisions prohibiting former presidents from seeking re-election. Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), issued a statement in response to increasing calls for Mr Jonathan to run for president in 2023.
He stated that Mr Jonathan, who served as president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, would violate constitutional term limits of two eight-year terms if he ran for and won the presidency again.
Mr Falana recalled that Mr Jonathan became President of Nigeria in 2010 following the untimely death of President Umar Yar'Adua, and subsequently ran for and won the presidential election in 2011.
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