Justice Ayo Salami says Goodluck Jonathan is constitutionally barred from running for president again in 2027, as it would exceed the two-term limit.
Former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan is constitutionally ineligible to contest the 2027 presidential election, stressing that doing so would amount to a violation of the Nigerian Constitution.
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In a statement contained in an opinion article released this week, Justice Salami argued that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) expressly bars anyone from serving as president for more than eight years, regardless of how the first term began.
According to him, Jonathan’s tenure between 2010 and 2015—first completing the remaining term of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and later serving one full term after his own election—already fulfilled the maximum two terms allowed under the law.
“It is painstakingly and dispassionately demonstrated abundantly to all and sundry that the 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,” Salami stated.
The former Appeal Court president explained that any victory Jonathan secures in 2027 would be nullified by the courts since it would breach the constitutional ceiling of eight years in office.
He added that the constitutional amendment enacted after Jonathan’s tenure further reinforces the principle that no individual can occupy the presidency beyond two terms, even if one of those terms was partial.
Salami’s position aligns with the interpretation advanced by several constitutional lawyers and political analysts, who maintain that Jonathan’s eligibility ended after his 2011–2015 term.
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Jonathan, who lost his re-election bid to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, has not publicly declared interest in returning to the race, though rumours of a potential comeback have surfaced periodically since 2022.
