The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Peter Obi/LP on the 25% of votes required in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to win a presidential election. The court ruled that FCT citizens do not enjoy special privileges ahead of other states
The ruling implies that scoring 25% of votes in the FCT is not a mandatory requirement for the declaration of a candidate as the winner of an election.
This decision is significant because it clarifies the confusion surrounding the interpretation of the constitution on the 25% FCT vote requirement.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier stated that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, did not have to score 25% of votes cast in the FCT to be declared the president-elect.
INEC argued that by scoring 25% of the valid votes cast in 29 states, Tinubu had satisfied the requirement of the constitution to be declared the winner of the presidential election, rendering the requirement of having 25% of the valid votes cast in the FCT unnecessary.
Tinubu’s victory was challenged by Peter Obi/LP, who argued that the two-thirds must include the FCT for a candidate to be validly declared the winner. However, Tinubu’s lead lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, urged the court to dismiss the suit for lacking merit.
Olanipekun drew the court’s attention to the fact that there is no punctuation (comma) in the entire section 134(2)(b) of the constitution, particularly, immediately after the “States” and the succeeding “and” connecting the Federal Capital Territory with the States.
He further contended that Obi’s “remote” argument that Tinubu’s victory should be nullified on account of not scoring 25% of votes in the FCT was frivolous.
The ruling of the Supreme Court has put an end to the controversy surrounding the 25% FCT vote requirement and has clarified the interpretation of the constitution on the matter. It is a significant victory for Tinubu and the APC, who can now focus on governing the country without the distraction of legal battles.
