25% FCT: Abuja Has No Special Place That'll Make It What We Call The 'Determining Factor' -Onueze Okocha

Former NBA President, Onueze Okocha [SAN], has voiced concerns about the interpretation of the Nigerian Constitution regarding the presidential election requirement to secure 2/3 of the votes cast in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He argues that the FCT should not play a decisive role in presidential elections.

In an interview in a video (7:32) with TVC , Okocha expressed his support for the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), which determined that Abuja (the FCT) does not possess a unique status that should impact the presidential election outcome. He believes that if a candidate has already secured 2/3 of the votes in 29 states (excluding the FCT), there should be no need to require that candidate to also obtain 2/3 of the votes in the FCT. He interprets the provision including the FCT as a separate term and suggests that there is nothing inherently special about the FCT that should elevate its role in determining the presidential election result.

In his words, “Abuja, or the Federal Capital Territory, essentially holds a status similar to that of a state. I fully agree with the interpretation provided by the justices who issued the judgment of the Presidential Election Tribunal. Abuja doesn’t possess a unique status that should make it a decisive factor in determining whether a presidential candidate has won an election. It’s what I consider a separate term when they mention 2/3 of the votes in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. So, if a candidate has already secured 2/3 of the votes in 29 states, there is no need to consider whether that candidate also obtained 2/3 of the votes in the FCT. There is nothing particularly exceptional about the FCT.”

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