By CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & AUSTIN OGWUDA
UNLESS they get the nod of the courts, Governors whose elections were annulled and had to come back via re-run polls would quit the stage on May 29, 2011 irrespective of their fresh swearing-in dates, according to the amended 1999 constitution signed into law on Monday by President Jonathan Goodluck.

Section 135 (2) of the amended grundnorm,  stipulates that “in the event of re-run election, the time spent in the office before the date the election was annulled, shall be taken into account” for the President. This same rule applies to all other political offices, including Governors.

Affected Governors are Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa) and are in court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from conducting the 2011 polls in their respective states.

However, in order not to shoot themselves on the foot, the Governors contested the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, guber primaries and retained their tickets.

In like manner, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, whose 2007 election was annulled on November 9, 2010 and  which he won again at the re-run on January 6, 2011 and  sworn-in on Monday, also emerged as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2011 polls, yesterday. He polled 938 votes to beat two other opponents.

The primaries was held under water-tight security at the Cenotaph, Asaba. Other two opponents who scored votes were a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the State, Angozi Braduce, who socred 10 votes  and a retired military officer, Prof Saliba Mukoro, who had two votes.

However, Prof Mukoro was reported to have been elected as the party’s flag bearer at a parallel congress held in Warri by the Edwin Clark group. Primaries for the Senate was about to commence at the same venue at press time.

Similarly, member representing Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu,  successfully picked the ticket for a return while the former Acting Governor Sam Obi was returned unopposed for the Ika North East constituency seat in the State House of Assembly.

A Federal High Court ruled on October 7, 2010 that Amaechi’s tenure commenced on May 29, 2007 and not October 16, 2007 when he was sworn in for a four-year tenure.

Although it was Sir Celestine Omehia who was sworn in as the winner of the governorship election on May 29, 2007 before the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Amaechi, the high court held that Amaechi’s tenure will end on May 28, 2011.

On the same day,  another Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the consolidation of the suits filed by Governors Ibrahim Idris, Aliyu Wamakko and Timipre Sylva, of Kogi, Sokoto and Bayelsa States respectively, seeking to stop INEC from taking any step towards conducting election into governorship seats in their respective states.

With the President’s assent, the time spent in office before would now count as part of the tenure of the Governors who win re-run elections.

However, the time the Governors spent out of office before the re-run has not been taken into account. For instance, Uduaghan was away from office for two months before he reclaimed the mandate. This is one of the issues that the court is expected to address.