Jonathan’s eligibility: Appeal Court verdict, victory for democracy, says PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan on the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld his eligibility to contest the presidential election.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja, said the ruling represented a positive step towards Jonathan’s impending victory at the March 28 polls.
He described the verdict as “victory for democracy and the rule of law’’.
This, he said, was especially so as it protected the inalienable rights of eligible citizens to freely participate in the electoral process without any form of hindrance.
Metuh added that the development had helped to enrich the judiciary and further deepened the nation’s democratic evolution.
He also applauded the president for remaining focused and upholding democratic principles, ‘’which enabled Nigerians to operate in an environment that allows for full expression of fundamental rights’’.
While commending the judiciary for its stabilising role in the polity, he urged PDP members and supporters across the country to close ranks and stand on the platform of the judicial victory.
This, according to him, is critical to intensifying efforts for eventual electoral victory for the president and other candidates of the party in the forthcoming general elections.
The legal action was directed to the appellate court by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He had sought the interpretation of sections 135 and 137 of the Constitution as they relate to the tenure of the office of the president.
The plaintiffs, Prof. Tunde Samuel, Dr Junaidu Mohammed, Mr Rasak Adeogun and Ezeemoo Ndu, were insisting that Jonathan was ineligible to be elected president for another term of office, having taken oath of office twice for the same office.