In Nigeria, the courts have the authority to remove governors from office for a variety of reasons, including misconduct, violation of the constitution, or electoral flaws.
The process for removing a governor is typically initiated by a petition to the state's electoral commission or the judiciary, which will then investigate the allegations and, if warranted, hold a trial. Ultimately, it is up to the courts to determine whether or not a governor should be removed from office.
Pulse presents a list of governors who were sacked by Nigerian courts since 2012.
Court sacks Ademola Adeleke as Governor of Osun state
Ademola Adeleke was celebrated as 'the people's choice', and recorded one of the most cheered electoral victories in Nigeria, arguably. After winning the gubernatorial elections in 2022, Adeleke was sworn in on November 27, 2022. While in office, his win against Adegboyega Oyetola, the unseated governor, was contested in court. However, by January 27, 2023, the court had declared Oyetola the winner of the Osun state governorship elections.
Court sacks Dave Umahi as Governor of Ebonyi
Dave Umahi's sack, pronounced on March 08, 2022, plunged Nigeria’s judiciary into an internal controversy. The Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Mr Umahi, and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform they were elected in 2019, to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Umahi appealed the judgement, and the court reversed the judgement in October, 2022.
Court sacks 5 governors simultaneously
Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Ibrahim Idris (Kogi) and Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) were sacked on January 27, 2012, after a seven –member panel of the Supreme Court decided that they were long overdue in office.
The five governors had had their elections nullified. Fresh elections were conducted, and the governors ran to court to challenge INEC’s insistence that in spite of the reruns, their tenure would end on May 29, 2011.