By Poem
Nobody goes in defense against a team led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN in any court and hope to have an easy ride, whatever the strength or otherwise of the evidence and witnesses you line up. When it comes in the nature of a presidential election case with holes all over, it becomes more than Herculean.
Let us assume that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a saint without personal encumbrances like his drug-related forfeiture business. Let us assume he Kashim Shettima plies on same route and submitted his intent to change candidacy status within INEC deadline. Let us assume Prof Mahmood Yakubu was not too eager to announce a president-elect in very unusual and globally embarrassing manner. Let us assume…
And then focus HE Peter Obi’s petition on just the failure of Tinubu and APC to secure 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory. The word ‘and’ suddenly became the most mentioned English word in Nigeria after Prof Yakubu declared Tinubu the president-elect on March 1. The concept of 25% of ⅔ spread is very clear and commendable insertion in our earlier and amended Constitutions. But after the 1979 election where Alhaji Shehu Shagari secured at least 25% in 12 states, Chief Obafemi Awolowo challenged the declaration since mathematically, ⅔ of 19 states was not 12. In court, fractions became involved, and lessons were being learned.
Abuja became the Federal Capital of Nigeria on December 12, 1991. While amending the 1979 Constitution, the clause ‘⅔ of 36 states and Abuja’ became one of the compulsory conditions for being declared a president-elect in the 1999 version of the Constitution, which is still in use.
Abuja is not like most capital cities in the world which were already appreciably developed before being chosen as a capital. Nigeria’s current capital city was diligently mapped out to be developed from scratch into a befitting capital city. An adequate land mass mainly from Niger State and from old Kaduna, Kwara, and Plateau States was considered most suitable.
Before the committee which the then head of state, Gen Murtala Muhammed set up in 1976 carved out the present FCT, a lot of considerations were made of which easy accessibility to all parts of the country, appropriate land mass, weather conditions and topography were major. By 2010, eleven years after becoming the capital of the most populous black nation in the world, Abuja was declared as the fastest growing city globally. It was not necessarily growing with only the original Gwari inhabitants. It was rather growing, and still growing, with Nigerians from all zones, ethnicity, religion, gender, vocations, ages and, of course, from other races and nationalities across the globe. In almost every definition of intent, Abuja is a huge success.
Unlike Lagos State which the indigenes contentiously claim is theirs, Abuja is indeed the only Nigerian city that is effectively multi-inhabited by appreciable numbers from every state of the Federation. Therefore, if there is any Nigerian territory that any presidential candidate of Nigeria deserves to get at least 25% of the total number of votes cast in any presidential election, it is the FCT. It is a territory that not only quarters the president but also all tiers of government in our adopted democratic system. A president should be accepted by at least a ¼ of the people he/she will live, work, interact, do business with for four years. It is not only logical but duly appropriate.
Those who amended the Constitution were very aware. Their thoughts were effectively put in non-ambiguous words. The sentence was very simple. Today, Tinubu’s legal team will attempt to make such easy task tedious and ambiguous. But in today’s Nigeria, where almost every citizen is watching keenly, such attempt will be an uphill task.
Making sure the words of Section 134(2) (b) of the Constitution are not interpreted out of context will be the task Obi’s legal team led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu. And he will not be alone.
…the above opinion was published by POEM, which stands for PO Media Express.
