by Idowu Babajide

Though members of The New PDP have insisted that GEJ signed an Agreement stating that he won’t run in 2015, it is noteworthy that the purported agreement has been put forward for public knowledge. Secondly, such agreement cannot supersede the provisions of the constitution. 

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of media hype / attention on the eligibility or otherwise of President Goodluck Jonathan to run for a second term in office. This sensationalized issue hit the headlines during after the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where it was reported that some members of the party staged a walk out. The breakaway faction known as The New PDP which comprises of 7 PDP governors has amongst other things, requested that President Goodluck Jonathan should not contest in 2015.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) became the President of this county after the death of his boss, Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2010. In 2011, he emerged as the third elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since the return of Civilian Rule in 1999.

Before GEJ could assume the position of the Acting President in 2010, there were a lot of political and constitutional manipulations by a group sympathetic to the then President. After the death of Yaradua, Jonathan had to take over as the president of Nigeria by virtue of Section 146 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended which states thus:

“the vice-president shall hold office of the president if the office of the President becomes vacant by reason of death………” (Emphasis mine).

From the provision stated above, it is obvious that President Jonathan held office for his former boss in order to end the latter’s term in office. Having tasted power as a vice-president cum president, GEJ ran and won the election in 2011.

In order to catch the drift of the writer, it is important to Section 135 (2) of the constitution which states thus “subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date, when-

a.)  In the case of a person first elected as President under the constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office “

It further provides under section 137 (1) (b) that

A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of the President if “he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections”

The last two quoted provisions are germane in coming to a logical conclusion on the eligibility of GEJ to run for second term in office. Section 135 (2) is to the effect that a person can only hold the office of the president for a period of four years while section 137 (1) (b) states one of the grounds upon which a person would be disqualified to be elected as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is if he had held such position at two previous elections. The combined interpretation of both provisions is that President Jonathan is entitled to two terms in office of four years each. This in practical terms means that President Jonathan’s first tenure ends in 2015 and he therefore has a constitutional right to seek for another four year term as president.

From the analysis done above, it is obvious to a discerning mind that the calls made by members of The New PDP are baseless.

Though President Jonathan has not declared his intention, it is obvious to a discerning mind that he wants to run for a second term in office.

Though members of The New PDP have insisted that GEJ signed an Agreement stating that he won’t run in 2015, it is noteworthy that the purported agreement has been put forward for public knowledge. Secondly, such agreement cannot supersede the provisions of the constitution.  Section 1 (3) makes any the constitution of Nigeria supreme and anything contrary to the spirit and letters would be void. This position was given judicial backing in the case of Saleh v. Monguno (2003) 1 NWLR (Pt. 801) pg. 221 where the defined a void act describe as an act “has no legal effect or consequence. It does not confer any legal right or title whatsoever, and it does not also impose any legal obligation or liability on any one or make a party liable to suffer any penalty or disadvantage”. It is therefore the constitutional right of GEJ to contest in 2015.

The members of The New PDP should be honourable enough to leave the party and allow Goodluck Ebele Jonathan concentrate of governance and achieve the goals of the current administration. It is my humble submission that the right or power to accept or reject GEJ resides in Nigerians (the electorates) who would decide whether or not to vote him in as the President of this country in 2015 if he wins the primaries of the party.

————————–

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.