25% FCT Votes: By Virtue Of Section 299, Abuja Is The 37th State Of The Federation- Barr. Oshoma

Famous attorney and political analyst, Barrister Liborous Oshoma, has come forward to share a section of the Constitution that does not grant Abuja any special status in comparison to other states amid the debating that has surrounded the demand for a valid Constitutional interpretation of the 25% electoral votes secured in the nation’s Federal Capital Territory.

In an interview with Central TV on Tuesday, Oshoma noted that Abuja is solely regarded as the 37th state of the Federation under Section 299 of the Nigerian Constitution.

“With all due respect,” he continued, “I would say that my stance has always been that the FCT is a 37th State of the Federation because of Section 299 of the Constitution. As a result, the votes from the FCT are not premium votes, which means that you cannot be proclaimed the winner if your FCT score is less than 25%.

Now, assuming without conceding, I also want to ask a question: Are we now saying that under Section 134, if a candidate in an election receives 100% of the votes in the FCT but received none in the 36 other states, the candidate should not be proclaimed the winner because he did not receive 25% in Abuja? That is not what the Legislature intended, and that is not the interpretation that will give the FCT more power in the electoral process.

(Forward video to 9:01)

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