ERBIL, Iraq - Nineveh Governor Najim al-Jabouri resigned from his position on Sunday. 

His resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

The governor had in September been disqualified by Iraq’s Accountability and Justice Commission alongside over 100 other candidates from running for Iraq’s provincial council elections slated for Dec. 18. 

The last time the country held provincial council elections was in April 2013, over a decade ago.

On Oct. 16, the Independent High Electoral Commission said they had disqualified 259 candidates, the majority of whom for previous ties to the banned Baath Party as determined by the Accountability and Justice Commission. 

Many in Iraq’s Sunni political sphere perceived these disqualifications as politicized.

Jabouri served in the Iraqi army both before and after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Baath regime. 

He also served as mayor of Tel Afar between 2005 and 2008 prior to going to the US. He returned to Iraq in 2015.

The now-former governor was Nineveh Operations commander during the key 2016-2017 Battle for Mosul and remains popular in his home region.