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A Federal High
Court in Abuja will today decide the fate of five governors seeking
legal interpretation of their tenure in office, whether it will be
extended beyond May 29 this year. The governors of Kogi, Adamawa,
Sokoto, Bayelsa and Cross River (Ibrahim Idris, Murtala Nyako, Aliyu
Wamakko, Timiprieye Sylva and Liyel Imoke) are challenging the decision
of the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct
governorship elections in their states. At the last court sitting,
Adamu Bello, the presiding judge, decided to fixed the judgment date
after counsel to the governors had adopted their briefs of arguments
and stated their positions and authorities to back up their position.
Counsel in the matter are Lateef Fagbemi, Kanu Agabi, Sunday Ameh, Ladi
Rotimi Williams and Paul Erokoro for the governors of Kogi, Adamawa,
Sokoto, Bayelsa, and Cross River States respectively.

The lawyers asked
the court to stop INEC and the People’s Democratic Party from
conducting elections in the five states because the tenure of the
current governors will still be on. According to them, INEC erroneously
came to the conclusion that the tenure of the governors would expire in
2011 based on the court-voided elections.

Specifically, they
cited the provision of Section 180 (2) of the 1999 Constitution,
providing for a four-year tenure of office for a governor from the day
he took the oath of office and oath of allegiance as a sacrosanct
provision of the law which cannot be abridged or ignored. The federal
government and PDP took different positions, even though they were
defendants in the case. In its opposition to the bid of the governors
to have their tenures extended, the government objected to the hearing
of the case by the court and pleaded that the case be dismissed for
lacking in merit.

Government lawyer,
Adeniyi Akintola, who stood in for the Attorney General of the
federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, argued that
no tenure elongation should be granted to any of the governors since
the amended 1999 constitution was opposed to such a move.

But the PDP,
represented by its national legal adviser, Olusola Oke, said the tenure
of any governor in Nigeria today legally begins from the date the
governor takes the oath of office and oath of allegiance.

The party claimed
that the 2007 elections that brought the five governors to office in
the first instance were voided and set aside for fresh ones by courts.
PDP insisted that the oath of office taken by the affected governors in
the voided elections have been voided along with the elections and were
of no effect whatsoever in law. The governors are seeking to prevent
the commission from holding elections for their seats until April 5,
2012.

INEC had announced that the tenures of governors who were re-elected
after their 2007 elections were cut short by tribunals would end on May
29, 2011, just like the other governors. INEC is the first defendant in
the suit while PDP is the second defendant.