By Adadareporters
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), Wednesday, ruled that votes of Abuja and those of the rest of the 36 states of the federation are of equal status.
The interpretation was sequel to the petitions of both presidential candidates of the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress did not score 25% of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory as provided in the constitution.
The tribunal held that ‘Nigerians are equal before the law and constitution’, implying that votes of individuals residing in Abuja carry the same weight as those from any other parts of Nigeria.
LP’s Peter Obi in his petition sought to confer a special status on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The tribunal however struck out the petition, ruling that it would be contrary to the principles of democracy and the Nigerian constitution to grant special status to any particular region.
On the alleged conviction of President Tinubu in the US, the court held that Tinubu was not disqualified by the fine imposed on him by a United States court following a civil forfeiture proceeding.
It added that the petitioners could not prove their case that Tinubu was disqualified by virtue of the decision of the US court, adding that Obi and the LP did not comply with the requirement of Section 249(1) and (2) of the Evidence Act in proving conviction outside the country.
It held that the US court case was in respect of a civil case, not a criminal case. It further noted that even if it was to be a criminal case, by the virtue of Section 137(1)(e) of the constitution, such conviction or fine must be within 10 years for a person to be disqualified.
