ABUJA, Nigeria – A witness for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has testified that neither Abubakar nor President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are eligible to be declared as president.
The reason given is that they both failed to score the required 25 percent in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
While testifying under cross-examination on Monday, June 5, 2023, by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mohammed Aliyu, the witness stated that attaining the 25 percent vote is a mandatory requirement for a presidential declaration.
The witness further clarified that this statement was not his personal opinion but was grounded in constitutional provisions.
When questioned about whether his candidate achieved the required result in the FCT, he admitted, “My candidate did not score 25 percent of votes in the FCT by the purported result published by INEC.”
During the cross-examination by Tinubu’s counsel, Akin Olujimi (SAN), the witness reiterated that his assertion was based on the law.
Despite this, he conceded that he was neither a lawyer nor a mathematician.
In a separate cross-examination by counsel to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the witness, Madaki, acknowledged that the FCT is equivalent to any other state.
Meanwhile, Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, reportedly exceeded the 25 percent threshold in the FCT during the election held on February 25, 2023.
