Robert Azibaola, a cousin to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has berated two senior advocates, Festus Keyamo and Chidi Odinkalu, for saying that Jonathan’s rumoured attempt to contest in 2027 will be riddled with legal battles.
Azibaola, a lawyer, said Jonathan is eminently qualified to run as president, urging the two senior lawyers to keep off his brother’s political journey.
Odinkalu, a professor of law, had warned that any attempt by Jonathan to run for president in 2027 could be scuppered by the judiciary, urging the former president to tread with caution.
Similarly, Keyamo, minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, had also claimed that Jonathan could be disqualified should he decide to contest the election in 2027.
On his verified Facebook post on Monday, however, Azibaola wrote: “Dear Festus Keyamo, SAN, Chidi Odinkalu (Prof.) I greet both of you. For the record, three of us are lawyers. We all were pro-demcracy activists in the 90s, and I was a better activist than both of you combined.
“Rule No. I: Do not offer legal advice where none is solicited. GEJ (PDP) has numerous, more cerebral, more experienced SANs at his disposal that give him sound, unblemished, professional legal advice only. “Please note: GEJ is 100% constitutionally and legally qualified to contest, if he chooses to. If he chooses not to yield to the overwhelming calls to run, it would not be because he is not qualified.
“Your screwed, unsolicited legal view is not of any concern in his bucket list, and it will never be. Don’t waste your precious time dwelling on this.
“Or should I schedule a meeting with me so you can get properly educated on the subsisting court judgments on this, one of which your party, APC, was a party?
“I beg una, make we no dey put too much water inside belle for another person disco dance, make long line no form for latrine door). This is not a confirmation that GEJ is running, though.”
Backstory
There have been rumours that Jonathan is planning to launch a comeback to complete his second term. The former president contested the presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 but was defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari, now late.
Several voices, mostly from the North, have encouraged Jonathan to return and complete his tenure. Political analysts say the call stems from the North’s understanding that the former president can only do one term in office.
The North is opposed to President Bola Tinubu for what several persons from the region describe as exclusion from his government and appointment of his allies from South-West.
