By Andrew Haruna – The Bureau News | Nigeria News Today
Abuja, Nigeria – Azibaola Robert, a lawyer and close cousin of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ), has declared that the ex-leader is “100% constitutionally and legally qualified” to contest the 2027 presidential elections if he so chooses.
Azibaola made the remarks in reaction to comments by Festus Keyamo, SAN, Minister of Aviation, and Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a human rights lawyer, both of whom argued that Jonathan is ineligible to run again.
In a strongly worded Facebook post, Azibaola dismissed their claims, stressing that Jonathan’s eligibility is not in doubt.
“GEJ is 100% constitutionally and legally qualified to contest if he chooses to. If he chooses not to yield to his overwhelming calls to contest, it would not be because he is not qualified,” Azibaola wrote.
Jonathan’s Political Journey
Jonathan first became Acting President on February 9, 2010, following the illness of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The National Assembly invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to transfer power to him.
He subsequently contested and won the 2011 presidential election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), defeating Muhammadu Buhari with 58.89% of the vote. Jonathan served until May 29, 2015, when he handed power to Buhari after losing his re-election bid.
With President Bola Tinubu now in office and opposition parties fragmented between the PDP and the Labour Party, political stakeholders see Jonathan as a potential unifying candidate with nationwide appeal.
Azibaola to Keyamo and Odinkalu
Azibaola, who reminded his critics that he is also a lawyer and a former pro-democracy activist in the 1990s, said both men were offering “unsolicited and irrelevant legal advice.”
“Goodluck Jonathan has numerous, more celebrated, more experienced SANs at his disposal who give him sound, unblemished, professional legal advice only,” he said.
He further accused Keyamo and Odinkalu of misinterpreting subsisting court judgments, adding that the APC itself was a party in one of the rulings affirming Jonathan’s eligibility.
Azibaola, however, clarified that his remarks should not be taken as confirmation that Jonathan would run in 2027.
