Amidst uncertainty over the Judgment by the Supreme Court nullifying the extra tenure of five governors, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is set to hold a crucial meeting to determine its next line of action on the states affected.

The judgement by the Supreme Court has been a subject of multiple interpretations by stakeholders in the affected states, even as the case of Kogi, which had produced a governor-elect and that of Adamawa which is to go to the poll next Saturday, according to the INEC time-table, remains a big puzzle.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of publicity, Prince Adedeji Shoyebi, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Tribune, said the electoral body still had three working days to meet and study the Supreme Court judgement with a view to determining the next line of action in the affected states.

Shoyebi suggested that INEC could hold a crucial meeting on Tuesday, just as he stressed that the position it would be taking during the meeting would be in strict compliance with the provisions of the law.

The Supreme Court had on Friday set aside an earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal which upheld the elongation of tenure for Governors Abdulahi Idris of Kogi, Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Liyel Imoke of  Cross River, all of whom tenure had earlier terminated on May 29, 2011.

A seven-member panel of the apex court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Dahiru Musdapher, had declared that the governors did not enjoy a constitutional cover to elongate their tenure based on oaths of office they took after winning their re-run elections, affirming, that “the 1999 Constitution has no room for self-succession for a cumulative tenure exceeding eight years.”

Part of the judgement read; “it is settled in law that the time fixed by the constitution for doing anything cannot be extended. It is immutable, fixed like the rock of Gibraltar. It cannot be extended, elongated, expanded or stretched beyond what it states.”

There has been confusion on whether the governorship election in Adamawa State, scheduled for next Saturday, could still hold with the turn of events, just as controversy continues to trail the election that produced Captain Idris Wada in Kogi State.

NEC is expected to clarify issues on the time table it had set for elections in the remaining state.

Meanwhile, some INEC officials who spoke independently on the issue hinted that the commission might resolve to set aside 90 days for elections to hold in all the affected states.