((UPDATES # 1935605, new info in grafs 2-3, edits, clarifies info in graf 4)

Nigeria's Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday ordering five state governors be removed from office.

The governors of Kogi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Sokoto and Cross River were all elected in 2007 to four-year terms, but their elections were nullified by electoral tribunals over alleged irregularities. The five governors won fresh elections the following year.

The governors won a lower court ruling that their original tenure began in 2008, after they won in the new elections. But the high court ruled the governors' mandate began in 2007, and thus expired in May 2011.

All five governors are members of Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party.