By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Robert Azibaola, a cousin of former President Goodluck Jonathan, has insisted that the ex-president remains constitutionally and legally qualified to contest the 2027 Nigerian general elections.
Newsmen had earlier reported that Keyamo cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against fielding former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate in 2027, warning that the move could jeopardise the party’s chances, while human rights lawyer, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, argued that the former president is ineligible under the Constitution.
Responding in a Facebook post, Azibaola maintained that Jonathan is fully qualified. He emphasized that any decision by the former president not to run would not be due to ineligibility.
His comments come amid growing calls from some stakeholders who view Jonathan as the only opposition figure capable of mounting a strong challenge to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next election cycle.
Addressing Keyamo and Odinkalu directly, Azibaola wrote: “Dear Festus Keyamo, SAN, and Chidi Odinkalu (Prof.), I greet both of you. For the record, we are three lawyers. We all were pro-democracy activists in the ’90s, and I was a better activist than both of you combined.
“Rule No. 1: Do not offer legal advice where none is solicited. Goodluck Jonathan has numerous, more celebrated, more experienced SANs at his disposal who give him sound, professional legal advice only.
“GEJ is 100% constitutionally and legally qualified to contest if he chooses to. If he chooses not to yield to the overwhelming calls to contest, it would not be because he is not qualified.
“Your unsolicited legal view is of no concern on his bucket list, and it will never be. Don’t waste your precious time further dwelling on this.
“Or should you schedule a meeting with me so you can be properly educated on the subsisting court judgments on this, one of which your party, APC, was involved?
“I beg, let us not put too much water inside another person’s dance, so the line does not become too long at the latrine door.
“#This is not a confirmation that GEJ is running, though.”
Jonathan served as President of Nigeria from May 5, 2010, to May 29, 2015. He first assumed office as acting president on February 9, 2010, following the prolonged illness and eventual death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The National Assembly subsequently invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to transfer power to him. Jonathan later contested and won the 2011 presidential election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), securing 58.89% of the votes. His tenure ended in May 2015 after he lost to Muhammadu Buhari.