Note: If this report is accurate, and the High Court decision is not overturned, it means there will be only three gubernatorial races in the Niger Delta in 2011: Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Abia. (Two other articles - from The Nation and the Guardian do not mention that the ruling applies to Gov. Uduaghan of Delta State.)
The Will
The Will
23 February, 2011
S - Reports reaching us indicate that a Federal High Court In Abuja has ruled that the tenure of the Governors removed from office and sworn in again after their reelection will not end on May 29, 2011.
Some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors; Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Aliu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Emmanuel Uduaghan had sued and asked the court to decide whether they would remain in office till 2012 or vacate their seats by May 29 this year.
With the ruling, the governors of Cross River
Emmanuel Uduaghan who just won his rerun a few weeks ago will stand for election in 2015.
They had had their initial election cancelled by a Court of Appeal and thereafter won their respective reruns.
The governors, in their consolidated suit had asked Justice Adamu Bello to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from conducting elections in their states in April, on the ground that their tenure would not have elapsed.
They maintained that INEC erred when it came to a conclusion that their tenure would expire in May 2011.
The governors contended that their tenure cannot lapse in 2011 because they took fresh Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance in 2008 after those of 2007 had been voided and set aside by different courts.
They had had their initial elections cancelled by a Court of Appeal and thereafter won their respective reruns.
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