The purpose of this MDB explainer is to unravel the 25 percent votes that the presidential candidates must garner in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to emerge winner of the 2023 presidential election.
The close margins between the polls garnered by the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party has thrown up various interpretations of the Nigerian constitution, regarding the FCT.
Section 134 of the constitution reads,
(2) A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly
elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election-
(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
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Obi’s Victory
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has emerged as the winner of the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Mr Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, secured 281,717 votes, Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC polled 90,902 votes while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 74,199 votes.
The Labour Party candidate defeated his closes challenger with 19,0815 votes.
A total of 478,923 people were accredited to vote in Abuja, meaning Mr Obi secured about 59 per cent of the votes cast. Neither Mr Tinubu (19 per cent) nor Atiku (15 per cent) scored up to 25 per cent of the votes in the Nigerian capital.
The Federal Capital Territory has six area councils—Gwagwalada, Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Abuja Municipal.
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Between Igini and Falana
Meanwhile, a former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, talking about requirements for a presidential candidate to be declared winner, revealed what will happen if both the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party failed to get 25% in FCT.
In an interview on AriseTV, Igini stated that no presidential candidate can be declared winner without getting 25% in the FCT. Only Labour Party’s Peter Obi got the required 25% in the FCT.
On the contrary, Falana said a presidential candidate does not need to win the FCT to be declared winner of the February 25, 2023 poll.
“It is not a requirement that you must win the FCT,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.
“Today, the courts have ruled that pursuant to Section 299 of the constitution, that the FCT should be treated as a state. That is the law.
“You don’t have to win the FCT; if you meet the requirement; that is two-thirds of the majority of states in the country. You don’t have to win the FCT,” the rights activist stressed.
Interpretations
MDB, in its analysis, noted that no candidate needs the required 25 percent FCT votes to win the elections, if other requirements are met.
What was stated in the constitution was that such a candidate need to have the most votes and 25 percent in two-thirds of the 36 states AND the FCT.
The bone of contention seems to the “AND” which is subject to legal.interpretations, following Obi’s victory at the polls.
A legal expert, Olumide Tayo-Lawal, who spoke to our correspondent said, “There’s no 2/3 of 37. The drafters of the constitution were deliberate so, 1st: win majority votes. 2nd: win 25% of at least 24 states of 36 including FCT. So, if you don’t win the FCT with 25% but have more than 24 states, good to go. The least is 24 states including FCT.”
Another political analyst, Tokunbo Oguntuga opined, “A candidate must win 25% of 25 states AND Abuja. Not 25 states WITH Abuja.”
And because of mischievous people, the constitution says: Section 299 of the Nigerian Constitution is EXPLICIT: The provisions of this Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation.
So, in this election matter, FCT shall be treated as one of 37 States.
And let’s even ask ourselves; does that argument that you must score 25% in Abuja pass the common sense test? What is so peculiar about Abuja?
This is another in the litany of twists unravelling in the 2023 elections.
