During a court hearing, a witness aligned with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, testified that neither Atiku nor President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) qualified to be declared as president due to their failure to secure 25 percent of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Under cross-examination by the counsel representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mohammed Aliyu, the witness stated that the requirement of obtaining 25 percent of the votes in the FCT was a mandatory condition for presidential declaration.
When asked if this statement was merely his personal opinion, the witness clarified that it was based on a constitutional provision.
Regarding whether his candidate achieved the required result in the FCT, the witness replied, “My candidate did not score 25 percent of votes in the FCT according to the purported result published by INEC.”
Under cross-examination by Tinubu’s counsel, Akin Olujimi (SAN), the witness maintained that his assertion was grounded in the law, although he acknowledged that he was neither a lawyer nor a mathematician.
During further cross-examination by the counsel representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the witness conceded that the FCT was treated as any other state.
It should be noted that in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, secured over 25 percent of the votes in the FCT, as reported by Daily Trust.
