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2015 Elections: Court Adjourns Hearing Jonathan’s Eligibility

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned till December 1, the hearing of two cases challenging the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest in the 2015 general elections.

The presiding Judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, adjourned the hearing, saying it would give parties involved in the suit the privilege to exchange brief and return for hearing.




     

     

    Counsel to the plaintiff, Abiodun Owonikoko, said he was seeking an interpretation of the court on the eligibility of President Jonathan based on several events that had taken place in the last six years.

    Owonikoko argued that having stayed in power for six years as President following the death of former president Musa Yar’Adua, seeking re-election into the office of the president in the 2015 general elections will amount to a total of ten years since president Jonathan has been in power instead of the eight years prescribed by the Constitution.

    He, therefore, asked to court to decide if the president is eligible and fit to contest in the light of the constitutional provision.
    Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Abiodun Onikokun, in his statement said the commission would remain neutral in the case and would also be bound by the outcome of the hearing.

    President Jonathan had on Tuesday declared his intention to seek re-election for a second term in office in the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

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