“It’s irrelevant,” Tribunal dismisses Peter Obi’s argument that Pres. Tinubu failed to score 25% Votes In FCT

The Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday, September 6, ruled that the petition of Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi claiming President Bola Tinubu did not secure 25 per cent votes in the FCT is irrelevant.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, who read the ruling, said the FCT does not enjoy a special status in that Nigerians residing there are not superior to citizens in other states; hence, Mr Tinubu’s election triumph cannot be invalidated mainly because he did not score 25 per cent votes in the federal capital.

“The second (Tinubu) and third (Shettima) respondents have averred that the FCT does not enjoy a special status over other the states of the federation and that Abuja is still inhabited by Nigerians who are deemed equal to Nigerians in any other part of Nigeria and residents of Abuja are not conferred with any privilege or advantage that is not afforded to citizens of other communities or states of Nigeria.

We are, therefore, of the view that the petition is irrelevant,” the tribunal declared.

In the same vein, the Tribunal consequently dismissed the petition of the LP and Obi, which argued that the victory of Tinubu be annulled on the basis on the “failure” of the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to upload election results electronically in real time.