FCT, Making Of 25% of 2/3rd States Status By Gboyega Amoboye.

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Like the controversy of what constituted 2/3rd of 19 States in 1979, in 2023, the controversy is what constitutes 25% of 2/3rd of 36 States and the FCT. While the 1979 controversy was resolved in favour of President Shehu Shagari by the Supreme Court, Nigerians await the verdict of the Supreme Court again that would determine the fate of Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party who has taken Mr President – elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Court. Obi’s argument is that a winner must have scored 25% in the FCT which he alone has made. But the clear winner in all fronts, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has faulted Obi’s argument as baseless and therefore must fail. Analytsts and even lawyers are divided on the correct interpretation of this innocuous section of the Constitution and the Electoral Act which says
winner must have scored 25% in 2/3rds of 36 States including the FCT, which only Bola Tinubu, the President – elect has made.
Background:. This seemingly harmless section of the Constitution and the Electoral Act had emernated during the Revenue Allocation (1981) Bill debate in the National Assembly in 1981. An NPN Senator had proposed an amendment to the Bill presented by President Shehu Shagari,( Executive Bill) that Abuja though the Federal Capital should also be a state. When the proposal was rejected, he amended it to read, shall be treated like a State. The proposal was unanimously carried. Another NPN Senator followed up with a proposal that if Abuja must be treated like a State, it must also have local governments. It was carried. Thus five Area Councils and Abuja Municipal Council were created. Hence Abuja or the FCT is to be treated like a state but its not a state.
Among questions that one may expect to be resolved by the Supreme Court is, can a part be bigger than the whole? Could Abuja which is to be treated like a state be bigger than a state? , How far can the “theory of holism” help in resolving the matter? The theory of holism according to Psychologists is that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Can Abuja which is like a state be greater than a whole state?Therefore in determining the winner of the Presidential election, Can Abuja enjoy a preferential status above a state? What is the spirit of the law that says FCT shall be treated like a State?.Can the issue of “must have scored 25% in the FCT” be tenable? Even lawyers do not know. Only Supreme Court does. Little, little patient” as we await the verdict.
BOTTOM LINE.”Since Governments are responsible for a great deal of expenditure in poor countries, the full pressure of oligopolistic market is brought on state officials. Local intermediaries and foreign businessmen who are unable to gain access to the decision makers of the moment look forward to their replacement. State officials who cannot obtain positions which allow them to influence decision making similarly seek to unseat those in power. In this conflict – ridden context, the power of guns and money plays an everyday role”. Prof. Terisa Turner. London School of Economics.
I rest my case.