ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s Supreme Court says it has fired five governors who overstayed their tenures.
Justice Walter Onnoghen said Friday that the governors of Bayelsa, Cross River, Kogi, Adamawa and Sokoto states should have left office in May 2011.
The ruling-party governors first came into office in May 2007 for four-year tenures, but their elections were annulled. After a re-election, they took a second oath of office in 2008.
A lower court’s ruling on Feb. 23, 2011 had exempted the five governors from having to face elections in April 2011, saying their new tenures had started in 2008, not 2007. However, the Supreme Court now says it is unconstitutional for anyone to hold office for more than four years.
