List of Governors sacked by Tribunal within 5 months and why

The Nigeria Electoral Act provided that aggrieved parties are to file their petitions against the winning party within 21 days, and the tribunals are expected to hear and deliver their verdicts on the petitions within 180 days.

As the deadline approaches, the tribunals in two states have sacked the governors. Below is the list of the governors:

Abba Kabir Yusuf

The Kano State governor of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was the first governor to be sacked by the state governorship election petition tribunal. He declared Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the election's winner.

Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay-led panel ruled that 165,663 votes of the governor were invalid because the ballot papers were not signed. After removing the invalid votes, the court then announced APC Gawuna as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.

Abdullahi Sule

Governor Sule of Nasarawa, declared winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second term in office, has become the second governor to be sacked by the electoral tribunal.

Governor Sule of the APC was sacked on the ground that the election that produced him did not follow the 2022 Electoral Act, and he was not the rightful winner of the poll.

The tribunal then declared David Umbugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the right election winner while asking INEC to withdraw the certificate earlier issued to Governor Sule.

As of the time of writing this report, at least 19 state governors have had their hearings and verdicts delivered by the state tribunals.