THE Supreme Court on Friday sacked five state governors, whose terms of office were extended beyond May 29, 2011.
The apex court ruled that the tenures of Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Ibrahim Idris of Kogi and Liyel Imoke of Cross River had expired since last year.
The affected governors had earlier gotten favourable judgements from the High Court and the Court of Appealregarding their state as chief executives of their respective states.
The ruling was delivered by a seven-member panel chaired by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher.
Other members include Justices Mahmud Mukhtar, Walter Onnonghen, Chukwuma Ene, Ibrahim Coomasie, Olufunlola Adekeye and Mary Peter-Odili.
The judgment followed an appeal filed 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 were challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which upheld the decision of an Abuja Federal High Court which extended the tenure of the five governors beyond May 29, 2011.
The Guardian