Atiku, Obi, others vs Tinubu: 4 senior advocates clarify arguments on winning 25% in Abuja
- The issue of winning 25% of votes before any winner of the presidential election can be considered the victor has been dissected by different senior advocates of Nigeria
- In different videos of some senior lawyers' interviews, they all posited that the FCT has no special status and would be treated like a state
- To justify this position, Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria, cited section 299 of Nigeria's constitution
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There has been controversy on the possibility of the February 25 presidential election being annulled by the presidential election petition court over the failure of the winner of the poll not getting 25% of votes at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
But the argument might not be holding water in the court of law as expected. This is due to the positions of 6 senior advocates of Nigeria at different interviews.
Source: Twitter
Names and details of these interviews have been compiled, as well as their videos by legit.ng.
The senior lawyers are:
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Abiodun Owonikoko SAN
The legal icon maintained that the legal stands of Nasarawa, Kogi and other states are the same as that of Abuja.
He made this position known in an interview on Arise Television.
Robert Clarke SAN
The legal icon, in his own personal view, said Abuja is just the 37th state in Nigeria, and it did not enjoy any special status that any presidential candidate must win 25% of votes.
To him, therefore, Abuja is counted as one state without any special privileges attached to it.
Femi Falana
The human rights lawyer earlier in January disclosed that section 299 of the constitution stated that the FCT should be treated as a state.
Sharing the videos on social media, @OnyeAdugbo said, "Femi Falana explaining the 25% rhetoric even before the elections. He talked about it in January before the elections."
Festus Keyamo SAN
Though Keyamo is an APC chieftain and top minister of President Muhammadu Buhari's cabinet, his status is as a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Keyamo said the interpretation of the argument is that they are putting the people of Abuja above other people in other parts of the country, which is against the constitution.
See the videos below:
Revealed: INEC to tackle Atiku, Obi, others in court with over N3bn
Legit.ng earlier reported that INEC had budgeted over N3 billion to defend the result of the presidential and national assembly election at the presidential election petition court.
Recall that the PDP, Labour Party and their candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, are leading actors challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of APC as the winner of the poll.
The N3bn also covers other election petitions from the governorship, and national and state house of assembly elections.
Source: Legit.ng
