Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, discussed the issue of Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution, which has been a matter of debate following the 2023 presidential election.
He stated that all votes in Nigeria carry the same weight and that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been considered the 37th state of the country. However, he refrained from making any definite comments on the issue, as it is currently pending in court and court decisions on the status of Abuja already exist.
The section of the Constitution requires a presidential winner to achieve a majority of lawful votes and a two-thirds majority of the states, including the FCT. The APC’s Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election, but failed to obtain the required votes in the FCT.
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have filed petitions at the Presidential Election Tribunal, challenging the result of the election.