Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and human rights activist, Olisa Agbakoba, has said former President Goodluck Jonathan can contest for presidency in 2023.
The legal practitioner relied on the non-existence of Section 137 (3) of the Constitution at the time Jonathan was ruling the country.
Agbakoba, in a statement yesterday, said the law cannot be backdated, adding that the section doesn’t apply to the case of the former president.
A lot of criticisms have trailed recent rumours of the former president joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest for presidency in the coming general election.
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However, some people moved that the rumoured attempt was at variance with Section 137 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The section resolves that a vice- president, who completes the tenure of a president who dies in office, such a vice-president, if he decides to run for the Office of President, will be eligible for one term of four years only, even though, ordinarily, he will be entitled to two terms of eight years.
However, the legal expert said such a provision should not be taken as having a connection with the former president’s re-election bid.