Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, says votes cast in all parts of Nigeria are
equal, adding that Abuja – the Federal
Capital Territory – has been interpreted to be the 37th state of
the country.
He was commenting on Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution
which has become a contending issue in the aftermath of the 2023 presidential
election.
But on Channels Television Sunday Politics, Falana said he
will not be making a definite comment on
the issue at the moment since it has become a serious legal matter now pending
in court, noting that court decisions on the status of Abuja already exist.
“I had expressed an opinion on section 134 of the Constitution
on the 23rd of January this year – that is about a month before the
presidential election. On that occasion, I expressed a legal opinion and that
is why I was very hesitant to join the bandwagon when lawyers started to give
political interpretations of that section.
“I did state that there is no electoral college in Nigeria
and therefore the votes cast or recorded in any part of the country are equal.
Section 134 of the Constitution specifically requires a winner of a
presidential election to meet certain requirements. The first one is to score
the majority of lawful votes and the second is territorial spread, a two-thirds
majority of the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“And since the FCT has been interpreted to be a 37th state
in Nigeria for the purpose of the constitution I didn’t see any controversy at
the material time and that was when I expressed my opinion.
“But now that it has become a serious legal issue and the
matter is now pending in court, I am very reluctant to speak definitively on
the section because there are decisions of the court on the status of Abuja,”
Falana said.
Section 134 sub-section 1 (b) of the 1999 Constitution
states that a winner of a presidential election must not have less than
one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of
all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was
declared winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to secure 25% votes in the FCT,
raising concerns about the interpretation that section of the Constitution.
Both Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and
Peter Obi of the Labour Party have filed petitions at the Presidential Election
Tribunal challenging Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the 2023
presidential election. Atiku and Obi were placed second and third respectively.
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