Gentew:


Point of correction, so Igbo can be happy

Isobug:

You are daft.....Those that did that way did it because they regarded FCT as a mini Nigeria where every states of the federation is represented proportionally. If you win the FCT, then a good number of people from all states voted

MatrixCircle:


Tinubu did not even have 2/3 of the total vote cast across the federation according to new evidence in court from Form EC8A across many states signed by INEC.

Obi won the election.

hardbody:


Oga with your profound knowledge of how the law works, what is the literal interpretation of the section of the law relevant to Abuja as a FCT.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

bentenny:


I will do so but not because of you but for those who might likely be deceived by your lies!

https://www.electoralgeography.com/new/en/countries/n/nigeria/nigeria-presidential-election-2003.html

savcy:
Not Quite. Obasanjo once failed to get 25% in Abuja, and yet the Supreme court judged in his favour against Buhari.

OceanEye:
When they say a candidate must score 25% in at least some numbers of states including FCT, I don't see why FCT has to be special there.

We are just being confused by English grammar that is not our ingenious language.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

TheOldGods:
oga, this your sections are talking about rights of Nigerians, we are not talking about rights here. We are talking about abuja being a state or not, and what special powers it has.

lagonovo:

The constitution clearly stated that its provisions apply to FCT as a state.

hardbody:


Please reproduce that section of the law here and let us analyze it PROVIDED you are a lawyer.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

lagonovo:


Chapter VIII Part I Section 299

Tareq1105:


What about Lagos?

Tell me any tribe that is not proportionally represented in Lagos?

If representation of a good number of people from all states of the federation was the intention of the drafters of the 1999 Constitution then Lagos has more representation of Nigerians than FCT.

So, let no one deceive you, the federating units (36 states and FCT) of Nigeria is one constituency and no unit is greater or lesser than others..

Tareq1105:


What about Lagos?

Tell me any tribe that is not proportionally represented in Lagos?

If representation of a good number of people from all states of the federation was the intention of the drafters of the 1999 Constitution then Lagos has more representation of Nigerians than FCT.

So, let no one deceive you, the federating units (36 states and FCT) of Nigeria is one constituency and no unit is greater or lesser than others..

Christistruth03:
Abuja voters are not Superior to other Nigerians
It is not the Osu Caste System


What you are saying is that if 100% of Non Abuja voters vote for a Candidate and only 24% votes for him in Abuja then he cannot be President

That means that only Abuja voters will have the right to Choose who is the President

All the other Nigerians are simply wasting their time voting

wirinet:

Wrong. The Constitution did not say he cannot be president. What the Constitution said is that a run off will be conducted between the top 2 candidates and anyone who wins the majority in a run off becomes president

Zico5:

I know whom you are and the region u are coming from. Majority of u there are illiterates. So no need to argue with u.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

datola:
All these lawyers are learners.

How can an ordinary FCT that's not even uqual to a state in status form the main basis of winning Nigeri's presidential elections..

I'm even more surprised the once respected Olisa Agbakoba is also alluding to the same folly.

nairalandkachy1:


https://dailytrust.com/presidency-lack-of-25-in-fct-disqualifies-tinubu-atiku-witness/

Spirit04:
the day I read Obi's petition, that was as far back as March I said the court will burst into hysterical laughter when they bring up this FCT talk

hardbody:


LOL. State the law as captured in that section. I won't do your research for you. That is not how lawyers behave. Nevertheless let me help you

Scriptum non est - What is not written does not exist.

Read the entire subsection and satisfy yourself with the fact that the section is clear about the aspects where FCT can be viewed with the lens of a state. It is deliberate that the law clarified those limitations. See also the highlighted portion on Sub-Section C. Oga I can't argue with you please

FCT-ABUJA Is The 37th State [By Supreme Court]
https://thenigerialawyer.com/fct-abuja-is-the-37th-state-by-supreme-court/

‘What is the status of FCT-Abuja?’ has been a lingering and somewhat bedevilling question over the years. Perhaps even going back to 1976 when Federal Capital

Territory-Abuja (FCT-Abuja) was established by Decree No.6 of 4th February, now Cap. 503 LFN, 2004. Why even the question in the first place, one may want to ask. The answer is simple. It is found and caused by two ordinary words of; “…as if….”. The word ‘if’ has always been a big word. Its’ use orally or written always conjectures ‘uncertainty’ or worse, the complete ‘unknown’. ‘If’ is shadowy. It speaks only to ‘near reality’ and never real. It puts things in the grey zone. Never white or black. It is bad enough to use it alone, how much more when you add another word to it. A word like, ‘..as…’. And so there you have it. ‘…as if…’

“As if…” is even worse. It leaves things to only possibility of being so or not so. I can go on and on but I believe the message and clarity of the begging question is well understood. Now what is it all about and how did it all come about? Well that is not for conjecture as would be seen anon.

Section 299 is the source of the res under discourse and thus becomes necessary to reproduce verbatim its provisions as follows:-

Section 299 Application of Constitution
It all began with the first exposition of Section 299 and its said nebulous phrase of ‘…as if…’ was undertaken in a seemingly ordinary civil case filed at the FCT-Abuja High Court in May 2001. The case; OKOYADE vs. FCDA pertained a simple case of contractual debt which however turned to be a life-wire issue. As it were, the case was instituted in the wake of Supreme Court’s Locus Classicus of NEPA vs. ENDEGERO (2002) LPELR-1957(SC) that expounded the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court. This is to say the ‘exclusive jurisdiction’ provided by Section 251 -1999 CFRN in respect of cases where Federal Government or any of its agencies is a party. Now because FCDA was sued in the FCT-High Court, the question thus became ‘whether the FCT-High Court was forum competents to entertain the suit in which FCDA as contended by the said party was ‘an agency’ of the Federal Government. The Honorable Trial Judge suo moto felt that the said Supreme Court decision (NEPA vs. ENDEGERO) had occasioned a; ‘substantial issue of law’ warranting a ‘case stated’ to the Court of Appeal for interpretation as per Section 295(1-2) CFRN.

Expectedly, at the Court of Appeal (Abuja Division) a ‘Full Court’ (5 Justices) was empanelled, coram; Hon Justices; (Raphael O. Rowland JCA, Olufunlola O. Adekeye JCA (as then was) , Amina A. Augie JCA (as then was), Stanley S. Aloaga JCA (as then was) and Tijjani Abdullahi JCA). There were two main ratios pertaining the ‘status of FCT-Abuja in law’. For the benefit of doubt the ratios are as follows:

Whether the Federal Capital Territory is a “State” by virtue of the provisions of Section 299 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the court declared thus;

It seems to me that the first question in this matter that one should ask is whether the Federal Capital Territory is a “State” by virtue of the provisions of Section 299 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. Section 299 provides thus – “The provisions of this Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation and accordingly- (a) all the legislative powers, the executive powers and the judicial powers vested in the House of Assembly, the Governor of a State and in the Courts of a State shall, respectively, vest in the National Assembly, the President of the Federation and in the Courts which by virtue of the foregoing provisions are Courts established for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (b) all the powers referred to in Paragraph (a) of this Section shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, and (c) the provisions of this Constitution pertaining to the matter aforesaid shall be read with such modification and adoptions as may be reasonably necessary to bring them into conformity with the provisions of this Section.” The above provision of the Constitution to my mind is very clear and unambiguous. It is trite that where a provision of statute is clear and unambiguous, only its natural meaning is to be given to its interpretation.

It is therefore doubtless clear that by virtue of Section 299 of the Constitution of the Federation, the Federal Capital Territory is in law a State. In others words the Federal Capital Territory should be treated as one of the States in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It follows therefore that bodies like the Federal Capital Development Authority are to be regarded an agency of “a State” independent of the Federal Government. It would appear that the only relationship existing between the Federal Government and the Federal Capital Territory is that its executive and legislative powers and duties are exercised for it by the President through the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the National Assembly respectively. From the provision of Section 299(a), where the President through the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Acts, he does so as a Governor of a State, so also where the National Assembly legislates for Abuja it does so as a State House of Assembly. See Fawehinmi v. Babangida (2003) 12 WRN 1; (2003) 3 NWLR (Pt. 808) page 604 where the Supreme Court endorsed the status of Federal Capital Territory as a “State” of the Federation. At page 677 the Supreme Court per Onu, JSC held as follows- “Returning to the case in hand, the power to make a law under the 1999 Constitution for the establishment of a Tribunal of Inquiry is now a residual power, which only the States can exercise. The National Assembly can only pass such a law in regard to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Thus, while the Commission of Inquiry Act Cap, 447 is an existing law, it has no general application to Nigeria. It is only applicable to the Federal Capital Territory a law deemed enacted by each House of Assembly for the respective States.” I hold the strong view that the intendment and general purpose of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria particularly its Section 299 is that the Federal Capital Territory should be a separate administrative unit distinct from the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is the position in reality. For example the Abuja Environmental Protection Board is an agency created for the development, enhancement and beautification of Abuja environment while the Federal Government has a similar agency called Federal Environmental Protection Board. Section 5(e) of the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency Decree No. 10 of 1997 provides as one of the objectives of the board to “co-operate with the- Federal Environmental Protection Agency and such other States, Environmental Protection Agencies to achieve effective prevention or abatement of trans boundary movement of wastes.” It seems to me that the above provision further confirms the status of Abuja as a separate administrative unit distinct from the Government of the Federation. I consider Section 301 of the 1999 Constitution to be very germane to the subject matter.

I must say it loud and clear again that from the provisions of Section 299 of the Constitution one should not be left in doubt: (i) That the provision of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation. (ii) All legislative powers, executive powers and judicial powers vested in the House of Assembly, the Governor of a State and in the Courts of a State shall respectively vest in the National Assembly, the President of the Federation and the Courts established under the Federal Capital Territory. From the foregoing provision of Section 299(a) of the Constitution, if the legislative powers to make laws for the Federal Capital Territory lies in the National Assembly, the executive powers lies in the President, then the judicial power to interpret and adjudicate on matters relating to federal matters also lies in the Federal Capital Territory High Court. Therefore, I hold the strong view that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has jurisdiction to entertain suit of two dimensions: (a) Suits in which agencies of the Federal Government are not parties – Section 257(1) and Section 259(1) of the Constitution. (b) Suits in which agents of the Federal Government are parties and agencies of the Federal Capital Territory. –Per RAPHAEL OLUFEMI ROWLAND ,JCA (Pp. 7-13, para. A-A)

LANDMARK PRONOUNCEMENT:
On Duty on President of Nigeria to appoint at least one Minister from the indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to represent them in the Federal Executive Cabinet of the Federation-

By the combine effect of the provisions of Sections 299, 147(1)and (3) and 14(3) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 it is obligatory or mandatory for the President of Nigeria to appoint at least one Minister from the indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as a Minister to represent them in the Federal Executive Cabinet of the Federation . Failure to appoint any Minister from amongst the indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is a flagrant violation of the Constitutional right guaranteed by section 147(3) and its proviso, Section 299 and section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution. In the instant case, the failure or 1st and 2nd respondents to appoint a Minister from amongst an indigene of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was a violation of their constitutional rights guaranteed by section 147(3) and the proviso there and section 299 of the 1999 Constitution.

The judgment was served on the President vide Attorney-General of the Federation on 23rd March, 2018. It is now over 3years and still the judgment has not been implemented.

On 30th January, 2019 following a formal Petition about the non-compliance with the judgement by MC Ezekiel on behalf of the Coalition of FCT-Abuja Indigenous Associations, the Senate passed the following resolution to wit:-

On 13th March, 2020 the apex Supreme Court delivered a judgment with notable pronouncement on the legal status of FCT-Abuja and thereby putting to paid for ‘…all time…’ the hitherto lingering doubt or controversy. Because of the importance of the pronouncement it becomes necessary to reproduced verbatim the relevant holdings pertaining the subject of discourse. The case only recently reported (March last) is BAKARE vs. OGUNDIPE (2021) 5NWLR (pt. 1768) SC. 1. The recently retired eminent jurist OLABODE VIVOUR-RHODES JSC delivering the lead judgment had this to say ‘on status of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja’ as Ratio 1:-

By virtue of the provisions of section 299 of the Constitution, it is so clear that Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, has the status of a State. It is as if it is one of the States of the Federation. (pp. 36-37, paras. E-A)

So there it is. No doubt, no grey, no conjecture no probability or otherwise and certainly no more argument.. In law FCT-Abuja is a State period. The court of infallibility, not because of perfection, but because of finality. The all mighty Supreme Court has spoken. If not acceptable then appeal lies only to God. It is no longer about Court of Appeal. It is now all about the Supreme Court.

josilcool:
Atiku did not have 25% in FCT and also 2/3 of the federation. He came 2nd

Obi did not have 25% in 2/3 of the federation but have it in FCT. He came 3rd

Tinubu did not have 25% in FCT but have it in 2/3 of the federation. He came 1st

Who is now qualify to be declare as president..?

MrCGPA:
Nigerians are Keenly Waiting for how the Court will Rule on the FCT Compulsory 25%. FCT produces only two Senators since it's not a State Why states produce 3. LP results were Reduced tremendously in Abuja, Lagos and Rivers State and people know every game that played. Let's see if the Constitution will be Changed because of Tinubu.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.
They cannot not been Nigerian constitution to make Tinubu president
Watch and see
It’s obi that started campaigning for presidency just 6 months before election and he won the lagos baba claimed he built including FCT a joke to u?
Dey play

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house
together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

N3TRAL:
It's amusing when adults think like kids. To believe that Tinubu will lose in court must be associated with low IQ and emotional intelligence level.

Hope is not enough to stop Tinubu.

The Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court will not cancel the elections or declare another candidate winner.

Stop wasting your resources, keep your house together and fight back in 2027 at the polls.

Zico5:
Majority of obidients are nothing but empty heads. We are talking of what's written in the constitution and not one man's opinion. I have never heard about 25% in federal or state capital in my life and the way they are pushing this issue shows they are pure garbage. Thank God it's their opinion and not what the constitution say. In 1979, when Lagos was the federal capital, Awolowo won Lagos with landslide but Shagari was pronounced the president cos he scored the majority votes. Let see how this goes, but I know they have failed already