The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the ground of the Labour Party (LP) and its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi that 25 per cent of the votes is a requirement in the Federal Capital Territory.
The panel presided by Justice Haruna Tsammani held that the FCT would be treated as though it were one of the states of the federation as residents of the territory have no special privilege.
The petitioners had argued that that a presidential candidate must acquire 25 percent of votes, including the FCT as a requirement to be declared winner.
Meanwhile, the Tribunal struck out the testimonies of 10 out the 13 witnesses called by Obi to defend their petition challenging the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
The Court ruled that the petitioner’s request for an extension of time to subpoena 10 additional witnesses, was not originally part of the petition as it was an attempt to amend the petition beyond the legally allowed 21 days.
