The Supreme Court has upheld the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that a candidate does not need to get at least 25 per cent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be Nigeria’s president.
The court made this known while delivering judgement on Thursday, October 26, 2023, in the case of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The court’s panel led by Inyang Okoro said the appeal lacked merit.
Okoro affirmed the PEPC ruling, saying the FCT has no special status.
The court agreed with the appellate court that Abubakar’s 25 per cent claim lacked merit.
Abubakar and Labour Party’s (LP) flagbearer, Peter Obi, are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 2023 election.
They want the election results nullified on the ground that Tinubu did not secure 25 per cent of votes in the FCT.
The Appeal Court had ruled that the petition was immaterial.
Dissatisfied with the PEPC judgment, they took the matter to the apex court, seeking to topple Tinubu’s victory.
A reporter with the ICIR
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