Winning the FCT Is Not Necessary to Become President, Says Falana

He emphasized that the electoral authority should declare a candidate the victor if they receive 25% of the vote in 24 states and have a majority of the votes cast. A presidential contender does not need to win the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be proclaimed the winner of the February 25, 2023 election, according to legal luminary Femi Falana.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated on Tuesday’s Sunrise Daily episode of Channels Television that winning the FCT was not a precondition.

“Today, the courts decided that the FCT should be considered as a state in accordance with Section 299 of the constitution. The law is that.

“If you meet the requirement, which is two-thirds of the majority of states in the nation, you don’t have to win the FCT. The rights advocate emphasized that winning the FCT is not necessary.

Olisa Agbakoba, a former NBA chairman, petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last week to clarify the commission’s stance on Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution, which appears vague.

A candidate will be declared the winner of a presidential election if, according to Section 134 of the constitution, “(a) he has the majority of the votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not 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.”

Agbakoba questioned whether the FCT is included in the 24 states or not, but the electoral umpire has not responded.

Falana argued that because the FCT was already recognized by Section 299 of the Constitution as a state, a presidential candidate did not necessarily need to win the seat of Nigeria’s political authority in order to be proclaimed the winner of an election.

He emphasized that a candidate should be declared victorious by the electoral authority whenever they receive 25% of the votes in 24 states and a majority of the ballots cast. The issue that has come up is that many are asking if any candidate will succeed in meeting the strict constitutional requirements: 25%, at least two-thirds of the state, and of course majority of legal votes nationwide, according to Falana.

Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party are among the leading candidates in the campaign for Aso Rock’s top position in the election scheduled for next month (NNPP).