By Lillian Okenwa
Lawyers have remained unrelenting in their arguments about whether a presidential candidate who did not win the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, can legally and constitutionally be declared winner of the just concluded presidential Election.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and rights activist, Femi Falana had in a statement asserted that the law sees the FCT as any of the 36 states in the country. According to Falana “Section 299(1) of the Constitution provides that the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory as if it were one of the states of the Federation. It means that the FCT is the 37th state.
Almost immediately, another senior advocate of Nigeria, Emeka Ozoani countered that a candidate cannot legally and constitutionally be declared the winner of the presidential election if he or she fails to win the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Ozoani said: “A critical analysis of Section 133(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended on the declaration of a winner in a presidential election said “the only interpretation to be founded on Section 133 (b) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended is to the effect that for a candidate to be qualified to the office of the president, ‘he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja but where the only candidates fail to be elected in accordance with this section, then there shall be fresh nominations’.
“The interpretation of AND is in issue. We submit that the word, ‘AND’ means ‘Conjunction’, ‘in addition’, ‘together with’, ‘plus’… Also, ‘AND’ means, ‘generally, a cumulative sense, requiring the fulfillment of all the conditions that it joins together, and herein, it is the antithesis of ‘OR’…
Another senior legal practitioner, Fidel Albert of Aes Triplex LP offered his opinion on a WhatsApp platform. “It’s very simple. If there’s a requirement for only four members of this group to attend an event, and the event organizers say they need 3 members and Afam Osigwe. What does that mean? What it means, to my mind, is that if 4 members from this group attend, without Afam Osigwe, the group’s representation has not met the threshold requirement.
“For Afam to be specifically mentioned, as being one of the 4 that must attend, it means any 3 members and Afam, to make the 4. 4 members without Afam, does not cut it. The Constitution was very specific. Make 25% in 24 states AND the FCT. It didn’t say “including the FCT” which would have made the FCT part of the 24. It said 25% in 1/4 AND the FCT!
“What is so confusing about this that we cannot understand, asides from just exhibiting our Nigerianness!!”
Again, Law Lecturer with the Nigerian Law School, Sylvester Udemezue waded in. “No, dear Fidel, with due respect. That’s not what the constitution says. Section 134(2)(b) is too clear. The expression “36 States and the FCT Abuja” is used in the constitution to recognize the constituent units of Nigeria. The only applicable rule, in my opinion, is the Literal Rule, because it’s clear and unambiguous. Besides, application of the literal rules is the only option that wouldn’t result in absurdity and unreasonableness”
But Albert insists: “Section 134 deals SPECIFICALLY with the requirement for being elected President. It has nothing to do with recognizing constituent units of the federation.”
More arguments and counterarguments continue to pour in. Ultimately, the courts will have their say. Nigerians await the final answer.
