JUST IN: Turaki-led PDP celebrates court verdict on Jonathan’s eligibility for 2027 election

The Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has welcomed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja affirming the eligibility of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesman, Comrade  Ini Ememobong, the party said the judgment aligned with the law and common sense.

The PDP said the court ruled that Jonathan remained eligible to contest for the presidency despite previously taking the oath of office twice.

The PDP described the suit challenging Jonathan’s eligibility as “vexatious” and a “gross abuse of court processes”.

“The suit, which, for all intents and purposes, was vexatious and a gross abuse of court processes, was a very unnecessary distraction that ought not to have been instituted in the first instance.

“The punitive cost against the plaintiff is also very much welcomed, to serve as a deterrent to intending busybodies and irritants, who make themselves available for use by those seeking to derail democracy,” the party said.

The PDP said the judgment, alongside the screening waiver earlier granted to Jonathan by the party, had cleared the path for his presidential ambition.

“This development, coupled with the screening waiver that our party had granted President Goodluck Jonathan, has made the pathway for his presidential rescue mission totally unfettered, especially as the primaries of the party to select all its candidates will hold this weekend,” the statement added.