2023 Election: List of Governors Sacked by Court

Following the heavy criticism of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the outcome of the 2023 election, the judiciary judgement on petitions regarding the governorship elections has been considered biased, especially as the opposition parties claim that the verdicts are favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Below is a list of Governors whom the court has sacked.

1. Abba Kabir Yusuf: The victory of the Kano State Governor in the March 18 governorship election was shattered by the Tribunal sitting in the state on September 20, 2023, as it declared the APC candidate, Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, as the authentic winner of the poll. Justice Oluyemi Osadebay-led panel sacked Governor Yusuf when 165,663 of his votes were declared invalid as they were neither signed nor stamped by INEC.

As a result, the Governor’s votes were reduced to 853,939, while Ganuwa’s 890,705 votes remained. Yusuf immediately rejected the Tribunal’s decision, calling it “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice,” and appealed the ruling.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday, November 17, upheld the Tribunal’s verdict led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, and sacked Yusuf as Kano State Governor.

2. Dauda Lawal: The Zamfara state Governor became a casualty when the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday, November 16, declared his election inconclusive.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Dauda as winner of the election.

However, the APC governorship candidate, Bello Matawalle, challenged the outcome of the March 18 governorship election at the Tribunal, but his petition was dismissed for lack of merit.

Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the Court of Appeal declared the election inconclusive and ordered INEC to hold a fresh election in three local governments.

3. Abdullahi Sule: The Nasarawa State Governor’s victory was nullified in October, as the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Lafia, the state capital, declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March 18 polls, David Ombugadu, as the duly elected Governor of the State.

While delivering the judgment via Zoom, the three-man panel led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, maintained that the petitioner was able to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt.

But the Governor described the judgment as a temporal setback and a wake-up call, insisting he remains the state governor until the Supreme Court reaches a different verdict.

4. Alex Otti: The Abia State Governor, elected on the Labour Party (LP) platform, was the first governor sacked by the Federal High Court sitting in Kano.

The court, in suit number FHC/KN/CS/107/2023, filed by one Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim, nullified the candidature of Otti and other Labour Party candidates who won at the poll over the failure of their party to submit the list of its members to INEC 30 days before the election.

But in October, the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano dismissed the lower court’s judgment and upheld the candidature of the Governor and other Labour Party candidates.