The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has declared that Peter Obi’s petition, alleging that President Bola Tinubu did not secure 25 percent of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is irrelevant.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, who delivered the tribunal’s decision on Wednesday, emphasized that the FCT does not enjoy a special status that elevates its residents above citizens in other states. Consequently, President Tinubu’s election victory cannot be challenged solely on the basis of not achieving the 25 percent vote threshold in the federal capital.

“The second respondent (Tinubu) and the third respondent (Shettima) have argued that the FCT does not enjoy a special status compared to other states of the federation.

Abuja is still inhabited by Nigerians who are considered equal to Nigerians in any other part of the country. Residents of Abuja are not granted any privileges or advantages that are not available to citizens of other communities or states in Nigeria. Therefore, we consider the petition to be irrelevant,” declared the tribunal.

In their petitions challenging President Tinubu’s victory, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party had raised this issue, contending that the president did not secure 25 percent of valid votes in Abuja, where he received 19 percent of the valid votes.

The tribunal also dismissed the second issue raised regarding the non-transmission of result sheets to IReV. It clarified that there is no law mandating INEC to transfer or transmit election results from polling units electronically. Instead, the law empowers INEC to decide the means of collating election results in Nigeria.

“The provision of Section 52 and Section 65 of the Electoral Act grants INEC the liberty to prescribe the manner in which results can be transmitted. INEC cannot be compelled to electronically transmit results,” the court held.

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