Tribunal Rejects Obi’s Claim That Tinubu Lacks 25% of Votes in the FCT

The Presidential Election Petition Court has rejected the claim of Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) that they won the 2023 presidential election by securing the majority of the lawful votes cast with the required constitutional spread of not less than 25% of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the states of the federation, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The court ruled on Wednesday that it was irrelevant whether President Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), failed to meet this criterion, as it was not a constitutional requirement for his victory.

The court agreed with the argument of Tinubu and his running mate, Vice President Kashim Shettima, that the FCT did not enjoy a special status and that Abuja was inhabited by Nigerians from different states and regions.

The court also said that Obi and the LP failed to prove any anomalies or irregularities in their petition against Tinubu and Shettima, who were declared the winners of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 36.61% of the vote, 8,794,726 total votes1.

Obi and the LP had contested the result, alleging that Tinubu did not score 25% of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the states of the federation, and the FCT, Abuja, as stipulated by Section 134 (2) (b) of the Constitution.

However, the court interpreted this section to mean that a candidate must score 25% of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in Nigeria and not in each state separately.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the court held that it is irrelevant.

It agrees with the argument of the respondent that “the FCT does not enjoy a special status and that Abuja is inhabited by Nigerians and that Abuja does not enjoy any special privilege.”

“It was observed as irrelevant,” it held.

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