Following the judgment of the presidential election petition tribunal which said there is no difference between the federal capital territory, Abuja and other 36 states of the nation, residents and original inhabitants of the capital territory have made demands for the election of governor for Abuja, three senators, house of representative and house of assembly members.
This is as obtainable in the 36 states of the federation. This is so because the judgment has removed the initial belief that Abuja is a special city different from other states of the country, hence the constitutional requirement that for a candidate to win presidential election, he must score at least 25percent votes in the FCT.
Arising from the judgment, the original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are preparing to take legal action to request that the federal government of Nigeria and the National Assembly allow them to elect their governor, three Senators, House of Representatives members, and State House of Assembly representatives, thereby making it equal with other states.
Daniel Bwala, the former spokesman of Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Campaign Organization, announced this move on his verified X account, formerly known as Twitter, citing the tribunal’s ruling that places Abuja on equal footing with other states of Nigeria.
He wrote: “Following the Presidential Election Petition Court’s judgment which states to the effect that Abuja is just like any other state; I am hearing that the natives of Abuja are approaching the court for an order mandating FGN to let them produce their governor and three Senators amongst other peculiarities of a state. What is good for Guinea is also good for Uganda.”
Emerald News reports that the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal ruled that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) does not enjoy any special status compared to the other 36 states of the federation concerning the mandatory 25% vote requirement in the presidential election conducted on February 25.
The court’s ruling, issued on Wednesday, emphasizes that the FCT holds no superiority over any state in this regard. The tribunal said the Labour Party’s “interpretation of 134(2)(b) of the constitution is completely fallacious, if not outrightly ridiculous.”
Section 134(1) and (2) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria (as amended) mandates that in a presidential election involving multiple candidates, the winning candidate must secure a majority of the total votes cast and obtain at least 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be declared the duly elected President of Nigeria.
