The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the ruling by the Appeal Court that a candidate does not need to get at least 25 per cent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be declared as the country’s president.
Justice Inyang Okoro led the panel of judges tasked with addressing the appeals brought by Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar against Bola Tinubu’s presidential victory.
Atiku Abubakar from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi from the Labour Party (LP) had sought to invalidate Tinubu’s win in February 2023, arguing that he did not receive 25 percent of the votes in the FCT. However, the Court of Appeal found their petition to be irrelevant.
Unhappy with the verdict, both Atiku and Obi appealed to the Supreme Court, hoping to overturn Tinubu’s victory.
But on Thursday, Justice Okoro corroborated the Appeal Court’s ruling, saying the FCT has no special status.
The Supreme Court therefore agreed with the appellate court that the 25 per cent claim by Obi and Atiku is immaterial.
