Nigeria Content Online

The Court of
Appeal, Abuja yesterday indefinitely adjourned its deliberations on the
appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
enable it conduct governorship elections in five states of the
federation.

A federal High
Court recently gave a ruling that stopped the commission from
conducting governorship elections in Kogi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Cross
Rivers and Bayelsa States.

The court held
that the tenure of the five sitting governors, Ibrahim Idris (Kogi);
Aliyu Wammakko (Sokoto); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Liyel Imoke (Cross
Rivers) and Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa) shall not expire until next year.

In his judgment in
the consolidated suit filed by the five governors, the presiding judge
Adamu Bello, held that the tenure of the governors legally started in
2008 when they took fresh oath of office and allegiance following the
nullification of their April 14, 2007 elections by the courts.

He said although
section 180 of the 1999 constitution was amended in 2010 by the
National Assembly and signed into law by the President, the amendment
has no effect on the five governors since their re-run elections were
conducted in 2008.

Not satisfied with
the judgment, the electoral body approached the appellate Court with
five separate appeals against the judgment.

Presiding judge,
Paul Galinje, who presided over the panel, said the appeals filed by
INEC so far were against Messrs Wamako, Idris and Nyako.

No polls

But at yesterday’s
sitting, the appeals were consolidated and the written argument adopted
by all the counsels to the governors and the commission. The judge
thereafter adjourned indefinitely for judgment, saying the date for the
judgment will be communicated to the lawyers.

NEXT had reported
exclusively that the Commission may not conduct governorship election
in about ten states in the coming April poll. The ten states are
missing from the commission’s website on the list of governorship
candidate to contest the coming election. Kogi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Cross
River, Bayelsa, Edo, Osun, Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti state are
conspicuously missing on the INEC website list of where elections will
take place.

Elections are not
expected to hold in Edo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states because their
state executives took office after the Court of Appeal voided the
election of previous governors.