TABLE 1: Annulled Nigerina Governors' Plights – Sorting The Confusion About Them Out
(Compiled by NM from various media sources)
S/N
Name
Of
Governor
Party
State
Initial Term
Post-2007
Extended
Term
Situation
Present
Status
1
Ibrahim Idris
(First term: 2003-2007)
PDP
Kogi State
May 29, 2007 - February 6, 2008
March 29, 2008 - January 27, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules tenure should have been over last May 29, 2011
A new Gubernatorial Election to determine Ibrahim Idris' successor was held December 3, 2011, and won by PDP, Gubernatorial Candidate is Idris Wada. Who takes over now from Ibrahim Idris – Speaker or Wada?
2
Aliyu Wamakko
PDP
Sokoto State
May 29, 2007 – April 11, 2008
May 28, 2008 – January 27, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules tenure over
Sokoto Assembly Speaker now to take over from Wammako. PDP Gubernatorial Candidate in the next election is still however Aliyu Wamakko. Next Gubernatorial Election is scheduled for March 10, 2012
3
Murtala Nyako
PDP
Adamawa State
May 29, 2007 - February 26, 2008
April 29 2008 – January 27, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules tenure should have been over last May 29, 2011
Adamawa Assembly Speaker to take over from Nyako. PDP Gubernatorial Candidate is in the next election is still however Nyako Next Gubernatorial Election is scheduled for on February 4, 2012
4
Timpre Sylva
PDP
Bayelsa State
May 29, 2007 – April 16, 2008
May 27, 2008 – January 27, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules tenure should have been over last May 29, 2011
Bayelsa Assembly Speaker to take over from Sylva. PDP Gubernatorial Candidate is Seriake Dickson. Next Gubernatorial Election is scheduled for February 11, 2012
5
Liyel Imoke
PDP
Cross River State
May 29, 2007 – July 14, 2008
August 26, 2008 – January 27, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules tenure should have been over last May 29, 2011
PDP Gubernatorial Candidate is in the next election is still however Liyel Imoke. Next Gubernatorial Election is scheduled for April 14, 2012
6
Segun Oni
PDP
Ekiti State
May 29, 2007 – February 14, 2009
May 5, 2009 - October 15, 2010
Appeal Court finally declared Oni's election illegal on October 15, 2010 and Fayemi as rightful winner all along.
Jan. 27, 2012 – Supreme Court rules that Oni's tenure would have been over by May 29, 2011 anyway
Current Governor is Kayode Fayemi (of ACN) since October 16, 2011. Next Gubernatorial Election is not until 2015.
THE NATION
January 27, 2012
BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court sacks five governors
The Supreme Court on Friday sacked five state governors whose tenure elapsed in May 29 last year.
The governors are Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River). They are all members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The decision was taken by a seven-member panel chaired by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher.
Other members of the panel are Justices Mahmud Mukhtar, Walter Onnonghen, Chukwuma Ene, Ibrahim Coomasie, Olufunlola Adekeye and Mary Peter-Odili.
The judgment is in an appeal by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appellants are challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which upheld the decision of an Abuja Federal High Court that extended the tenure of the five governors beyond May 29, 2011.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mobolaji ALUKO <alukome@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Subject: Nigeria: What Tenure for These Six Governors? [of the states of Adamawa, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Ekiti, Kogi, Sokoto]
To: ekiti ekitigroups <ekitipanupo@yahoogroups.com>, Ekiti peoples voice Ekiti peoples voice <ekitipeoplesvoice@yahoogroups.com>, OmoOdua <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>, NaijaPolitics e-Group <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>, Naija Elections <naijaelections@yahoogroups.com>, naijaintellects <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>
THIS DAYNigeria: What Tenure for These Governors?
Davidson Iriekpen
28 March 2010
analysis
Lagos — Penultimate week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released two timetables in preparation for the 2011 general elections. The two timetables are subject to the review of the1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2006.
According to the commission, while the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on January 22, 2011, the governorship and state legislative elections will take place on January 11, 2011 if the 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act 2006 are amended as planned.
It added that if the amendment did not take place, then the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on April 16, 2011, while the governorship and state legislative elections will take place on April 9, 2011.
But while the commission is putting everything in place to ensure a hitch-free election, there are confusions on whether the six state governors whose elections were voided by the Court of Appeal sitting across the country after spending a minimum of one to two years in office but went ahead to win the re-run elections are entitled to tenure elongation and therefore excluded from renewing their tenure of office in 2011.
The affected governors are Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and Segun Oni of Ekiti State
However, the 1999 constitution approves four years as one term for president and governors. They cannot however stay in office beyond 8 years of two tenure.
But the argument in the camps of the affected governors is that, having won the re-run elections their tenure starts afresh. Unless other wise interpreted by the court, the affected governors are on their way to enjoy tenure elongation.
They would end up spending between 5 and six years in their first term. The governors are relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Mr. Peter Obi vs INEC & Others. They are also interpreting Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution to justify their continued stay in office beyond 2011.
Political observers however believe that only Governor Obi who just won his second term election and governors Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo are excluded from the next year governorship elections
However, observers believe that the framers of the 1999 constitution may not have envisaged a situation where a governor would take oath of office twice or thrice, stating that giving the governor an extra one or two years would mean giving them tenure elongations.
They are of the view that when the Apex court gave judgment in the Obi vs INEC case, which the governors are relying on, it did not factor that a governor would succeed himself.
In the case of former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja vs INEC, the Supreme Court did not grant Ladoja a tenure extension as requested in his suit. He was in court to gain back the 11 months he spent out of power as a result of his illegal impeachment. Those who opposed tenure elongation for the governors argued that since the affected governors did collect salaries and allowances and performed official duties as chief executives in their states, their four-year tenure should end next year.
To properly understand the Obi's case, it would be recalled that he contested the April 19, 2003 gubernatorial election on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and was said to have lost by INEC presided over by the then Chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia. Instead, the commission awarded victory to Dr. Chris Ngige then a member of the PDP.
Obi challenged the result at the election petition tribunal and won the first round. The matter latter shifted to the Appeal Court following Ngige's appeal.
But on March 15, 2006, clearly three years after the election was held, the Court of Appeal in Enugu presided over by Justice Garba Nabaruma declared his governorship seat invalid and illegal. The court ordered that instead, Obi should be sworn-in. That was not the end of the matter. After just one year in office, INEC on April 14, 2007 conducted a fresh governorship election in the state, but Obi challenged the election before the Supreme Court.
In a unanimous decision, the seven-man panel of the apex court ruled that, based on Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution, the tenure of Obi as governor of Anambra State started counting from the day he was sworn into office. The court had interpreted that Obi's four-year tenure started on March 17, 2006, the day he took oath of office. According to the lead judgment delivered by Justice Iyorgher Katsina-Alu, the incontrovertible fact that Obi took his oath on March 17, 2006 made it abundantly clear by provisions of Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution that his tenure could only come to an end on March 17, 2010.
To put it in proper perspective, 180 sub-section (1) of the 1999 Constitution states as follows: "Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of Governor of a State until - (a) when his successor in office takes the oath of office; or (b) he dies whilst holding such office; or (c) the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or (d) he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution."
Subsection (2) states "Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section, the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date when (a) in the case of a person first elected into office as Governor under this constitution, he took the oath of allegiance and oath of office; (b) the person last elected to that office took the oath of oath of allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken sure oath."
Central to this is whether having regard to the provisions of Section 180, sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution, the tenure of office of a person first elected as governor begins to run when the said governor first took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office, and whether a governor who was first elected and took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office on May 29, 2007 but after his election was nullified went ahead to win the re-run election could enjoy the benefits of section 180 sub-section 2 in starting a fresh term.
Beside, a quick perusal of the lead judgment of Justice Pius Olayiwola Aderemi of the Supreme Court delivered on July 13, 2007, reveals that the words when the governor 'first elected', 'took the oath of allegiance and oath of office' appearing in section 180 sub-section 2 when given its natural, ordinary and grammatical meaning could mean that elections would hold in the affected states in 2011.
Reacting to the controversy in an article in THISDAY recently, Lagos-based legal practitioner, Dame Carol Ajie, submitted that in tackling whether a person who was first elected as governor, took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office on May 29, was petitioned to the tribunal, directed to go back to the polls, comes back wins the second round and re-sworn on April 20, 2008, could ensure the benefits of Section 180 sub-section 2 in calculating a fresh term after the April 20, 2008.
Ajie stated: "respectfully submit that he cannot, such a governor will be wrong to pretend to sit in office afresh as though his term was truncated and came to an abrupt end. That the second time being sworn in, as governor is a new beginning. It is not a new beginning, it is a continuation of the first, this l humbly posit with all due respect to some of my colleagues who argue that it is not a continuum. It is the same seat, the same person holding the same office on a stretch of election No 2, as distinct from the first election.
"On the premises, a dissection of the principle enunciated by the Supreme Court in Obi and Uba vis-a-vis Section 180 sub-section 2 (a) of the 1999 Constitution, leads to the irresistible conclusion that, it is incongruous and inharmonious for governors first elected, thereafter taking their oaths of allegiance and office, were up against election petitions, as expected in all active democracies, emerged victorious at the tribunals and or Appeal Tribunals-ordered re-run elections, won the second time, took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office, the second time to apply the ratio in Peter Obi's case, and begin a fresh count from the date re-sworn, despite the clear and unequivocal wording and unambiguous interpretation placed on section 180(2) (a) NOT to mean a prolongation and or undue elongation of governorship tenures to be brought about in the peculiar circumstances of these cases."
On his part, President of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana, feels that the constitution did not envisage a situation where a governor would take oath of office twice or thrice. He stated that giving the governors an extra year would mean rewarding the beneficiary of a fraudulent election tenure elongation.
Falana said it would be wrong to reward a candidate who colluded with INEC to rig election to have a re-run when they should have been banned from further polluting the electoral process. Comparing the case of Ladoja vs INEC, the human rights lawyer said the Supreme Court did not grant Ladoja's tenure extension request because the court found out that for the 11 months that he was out of power through impeachment, he later collected salaries and allowances.
He argued that the same thing was applicable to the four governors mentioned earlier, saying the governors did not only collect salaries and allowances and awarded contracts during the period but took important decisions affecting their states which could not be said not to have been taken.
"The constitution never envisaged that a governor would take oath of office twice or thrice. And it would be a complete anomaly to reward a criminal suspect or a beneficiary of a fraudulent election, which has been annulled with an extra year or two. In other words, if a candidate who colluded with INEC to rig election is allowed to have a re-run when in the first place he should have been banned from further polluting the electoral process," he said.
In his reaction, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said it would be wrong for the governors to remain in office beyond 2011, saying that it was one of the unfortunate things in the political system that the Electoral Reform Panel is trying to address. "It is very wrong for them to remain in office beyond 2011. I don't see how the people who benefited from fraudulent conduct should be a beneficiary of such a conduct," he said.
But constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), clearly differed in his view. According to him, once an election is nullified and a re-ran, the winner, if he was the one in office before, automatically starts another term. "We cannot change the law now. It is a principle laid down by the Supreme Court. If an election is nullified, it means it never took place in the first instance. Anybody sworn in automatically starts another tenure," he said.
Corroborating Sagay's view, Mr.Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), said since the appellate court nullified the first victory, it meant that it was not an election in the eyes of the law, adding that the implication is that the governors' term will begin to run when he is validly elected.
While a quick interpretation of Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution as it applies to the issue at stake is being awaited, many believe that the ultimate solution to the controversy rests squarely on reviewing the constitution. Perhaps, it is against this background that the Senate last week proposed 35 amendments in the constitution. Key in the amendments was sections 76 and 135 respectively which touched on dispensing with election petitions before swearing-in and how to calculate four-year term.
For instances, Sections 76 is in respect of clauses providing for time to dispense with election petitions and litigations, which as provided in Section 76 (2), states that "the date mentioned on subsection (1) of this Section shall not be earlier than 150 days and not later than ninety days before the date on which the House stands dissolved, or where the election is to fill a vacancy occurring more than three months before such a date, not later than one month after the vacancy occurred."
The clause which is "mutatis mutandis" with Section 116 on time of elections to the House of Assembly, was passed by a vote of 92 (in favour) and nil against.
On tenure of office of president in Section 135, the Senate passed by a vote of 88 in favour and two against the proposed insertion of a new subparagraph c to avoid elongation of tenure of office of the President as provided in the Constitution. It reads: "In the calculation of the four year term, where a re-election has taken place and the person earlier sworn in wins the re-election, the time spent in the office before the date the election was annulled, shall be taken into account."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ALUKO COMMENTARY
Unless a court rules otherwise, the street talk is that with an appeal win, these governors will begin their terms all over again. For example, Oni of Ekiti would have be "suffered" until 2013.
However, the National Assembly is currently making an amendment as follows by adding a new sub-section (c) to Section 180, viz:
QUOTE
Section 180
(2)Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date when
(a) in the case of a person first elected as Governor under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office; and
(b)
the person last elected to that office took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such oaths.(c) in the determination of the four year term, where a re-run election has taken place and the person earlier sworn in wins the re-run election, the time spent in office before the date the election was annulled, shall be taken into account.
UNQUOTE
If this passes - and I believe that it will - the next question is whether it will be applied RETROACTIVELY to those who had won their re-runs BEFORE it was passed.
By the way, there is now an ongoing case in Kogi State where this situation is being tested - see news below. The court should really rule to limit the term of such governors.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
--------------------------------------------------------
THIS DAY
Tenure: Kogi gov dragged to courtFrom Paul Obi in Abuja, 06.02.2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The uncertainty and controversy that have continued to surround the re-election of some governors after the April 2007, yesterday took a new dimension as the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, was dragged before an Abuja Federal High Court in a suit to determine whether or not his tenure terminates on May 29, 2011.
advertisement
![]()
![http://b.scorecardresearch.com/b?C1=8&C2=6035047&C3=201.114&C4=ad6127a&C5=163829&C6=0&C7=http%3A//odili.net/news/source/2010/jun/2/224.html&C8=News%20--%20Tenure%3A%20Kogi%20gov%20dragged%20to%20court&C9=http%3A//www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3DKogi+State+court+tenure+of+governor%26btnG%3DSearch%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26oq%3D%26gs_rfai%3D&C10=1440x900&rn=10027394]()
The suit brought by the Director General, African International Foundation and President of Igala National Association, Dr Yakubu Ugwolawo, is asking the court to assert whether having regard to Section 180 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 the tenure of office of the Governor held by the defendant, being the only person last elected to that office begins to run from 29 May, 2007, when he first took the oath of allegiance and oath of office.
Ugwolawo is also seeking a declaration that the four-year tenure of Idris, the defendant shall expire on the May 29, 2011 and that election into the office of the Governor of Kogi State shall fall due in 2011 and shall be liable to be so held in accordance with Section 178 (1) and (2) of the Constitution.
Also joined in the suit is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The litigant further maintained that notwithstanding the ruling of the Appeal Court on March 28, 2008 , Idris upon being sworn in as aforesaid governor cannot continue in that capacity as the chief executive of the state.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment