Sadly for the opposition parties, the Supreme Court Upholds Appeal Court’s Ruling On FCT.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court affirmed the Appeal Court’s decision that a candidate does not have to receive a minimum of 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in order to be declared the winner of the national election.
The panel of justices led by Justice Inyang Okoro decided the appeals of Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar against Tinubu’s win.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s (LP) Peter Obi had requested that Tinubu’s victory in February 2023 be declared void due to the fact that he did not receive 25% of the vote in the Federal Capital Territory. However, the Appeal Court determined that their appeal was irrelevant.
The two appealed the ruling to the highest court, hoping that Tinubu’s victory would be overturned since they were unhappy with the verdict.
However, Justice Okoro affirmed the Appeal Court’s decision on Thursday, stating that the FCT does not have any unique status.
Thus, the Supreme Court concurred with the Appellate Court that Obi and Atiku’s 25% claim is immaterial.
