Supreme Court Nullifies Election of Sitting Governor in Nigeria

Farida Adamu, January 22, 2020

A seven-man panel led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, has annulled the election of Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo state. Mr Ihedioha was elected into office on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), during the March governorship elections held last year.

How Did We Get Here?

On March 12, 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the final resultsfor the Imo state governorship elections as follows: Emeka Ihedioha (People’s Democratic Party, PDP) 273,404 (winner), Uche Nwosu (Action Alliance, AA) 190,364, Ifeanyi Ararume (All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA) 114,676 and Hope Uzodinma (All Progressives Congress, APC) 96,458.

After the results were released, Mr Uzodinma of the APC and the governorship candidates of the AA and APGA approached the election tribunal to nullify the election of Mr Ihedioha, on claims that he was unlawfully declared as the governor of the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, their testimony was dismissed as they failed to call relevant witnesses.

Mr Uzodinma held on to his claims that results from 388 polling units were excluded from collation and approached a higher court that eventually ruled in his favour. In the unanimous judgment of the seven-member panel, read by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the supreme court agreed that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in Imo State. However, they failed to explain to Nigerians how they came to this conclusion.

Why This Matters

Voiding the election adds one more state to the league of states in Nigeria that will now hold off-cycle elections. The delayed swearing-in of Senator Hope Uzodimma means the state would have to wait till 2024, after the 2023 general elections, to elect their next governor.

The apex court’s decision has been heavily criticized by civil society organisations and the main opposition (PDP) who staged a protest at the supreme court after the announcement.

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