In Nigeria, an election is often not over when INEC announces the result. Since 1999, election petition tribunals, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have decided who governs several states, and their rulings have reshaped politics and the electoral calendar. These are some of the landmark cases.
Anambra 2006–2007: Peter Obi and the four-year term
In March 2006, the Court of Appeal ruled that Peter Obi of APGA, not Chris Ngige of the PDP, had won the 2003 Anambra governorship election, and Obi was sworn in. In 2007, INEC held an election in Anambra along with the rest of the country, and Andy Uba of the PDP was sworn in on 29 May. Obi argued that his four-year term had only begun when he took office in 2006.
On 14 June 2007, the Supreme Court agreed with him, removed Uba after 17 days and restored Obi. The ruling established that a governor’s four-year term runs from the day they take the oath. It is the main reason Anambra votes off-cycle.
Rivers 2007: a governor who was never on the ballot
Rotimi Amaechi won the PDP governorship primary in Rivers State in 2006, but the party replaced him with Celestine Omehia, who won the April 2007 election. Amaechi sued, arguing that the party had no lawful reason to substitute him.
On 25 October 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that Amaechi had always been the PDP’s lawful candidate. Because the votes were cast for the party, the court held that he, not Omehia, was the governor. Amaechi was sworn in the next day without having appeared on the ballot. The ruling made party primaries a central battleground in Nigerian elections.
The 2007 presidential election: four votes to three
Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar challenged Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s victory. On 12 December 2008, the Supreme Court upheld it by four votes to three. The minority would have ordered a fresh election. It remains the closest any presidential petition has come to success.
Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun: governors removed after years in office
After 2007, tribunals and the Court of Appeal overturned several governorship results after long trials:
- Edo: Adams Oshiomhole replaced Oserheimen Osunbor in November 2008.
- Ondo: Olusegun Mimiko replaced Olusegun Agagu in February 2009.
- Ekiti: Kayode Fayemi replaced Segun Oni in October 2010.
- Osun: Rauf Aregbesola replaced Olagunsoye Oyinlola in November 2010.
Because each new governor started a fresh four-year term, these states moved permanently onto their own election calendars. The Electoral Act 2010 later required petitions to be decided within fixed deadlines, so cases could no longer drag on for years.
Zamfara 2019: a whole state changes hands
In May 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the APC had not conducted valid primaries in Zamfara State, so all its candidates were never lawfully nominated. Every seat the APC had won in the state, including the governorship, three Senate seats, seven House of Representatives seats and 24 state assembly seats, passed to the runners-up, mostly from the PDP. Bello Matawalle became governor.
Imo 2020: from fourth place to governor
On 14 January 2020, the Supreme Court removed Imo governor Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP and declared Hope Uzodimma of the APC the winner. The court ruled that results from 388 polling units had been wrongly excluded and that, once added, Uzodimma had the most votes. Uzodimma had been declared fourth by INEC. The judgment remains one of the most criticised in Nigerian legal history, and a later application to review it failed.
Bayelsa 2020: disqualified the day before the inauguration
On 13 February 2020, the day before he was due to be sworn in, the Supreme Court disqualified the APC’s David Lyon, winner of the November 2019 Bayelsa governorship election. It ruled that his running mate had submitted false information about his academic certificates, which invalidated the joint ticket. The PDP’s Douye Diri, the runner-up, was sworn in instead.
2023 and after
- Presidential: the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Bola Tinubu’s victory on 26 October 2023, ruling that the IReV upload failure did not invalidate the election and that 25% in the FCT was not a separate requirement.
- Osun: a tribunal nullified Ademola Adeleke’s 2022 win over alleged over-voting. The Court of Appeal reversed it, and the Supreme Court confirmed his victory in 2023.
- Kano: the tribunal and the Court of Appeal ruled against Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf in 2023, but the Supreme Court restored his election in January 2024.
Since the 2010 reforms, governorship and legislative petitions must be decided by the Court of Appeal (for governors, by the Supreme Court) within strict time limits, which has made sudden removals years into a term much rarer.
