Alex Enumah in Abuja
A Professor of Law and former Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor, has declared that no section in Nigeria’s Constitution provides that a presidential candidate must score 25 per cent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) before she or he can become president.
Osunbor, in a statement at the weekend, declared that there was no controversy at all as “the Constitution does not require a win in any particular place, the FCT inclusive.”
He explained that: “There is no section in our constitution that requires a presidential candidate to score 25 per cent of the FCT. Some people are simply reading into the constitution what is not there.
“What the constitution states clearly in section 133 is that to be declared winner, the candidate must score at least 25 per cent in two – thirds of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
“It did not say 25 per cent in the FCT, which is how the legal draftsman would have rendered it if that was the intention.”
Osunbor, a two-term member of the Senate, said: “In fact, the Constitution does not require a win in any particular place, the FCT inclusive.
“Ask any secondary school student who understands English comprehension the question, ‘where does section 133 of the Constitution require a candidate to score 25 per cent.
“The only correct answer would be in two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT.
“I have read and listened to some lawyers dwell on the rule of interpretation of statutes and the use of the word “and”.
“The first rule of interpretation is that where the language of the statute is clear (as in this case), you do not need to belabour the issue of interpretation. 25 per cent of two-thirds of the states and the FCT is clear enough. You do not need to go on a voyage of discovery to find what is not missing.”
Osunbor maintained that “the language of the section is simple and straightforward.
“It is a known fact that during National Sports Festivals, the medals table shows the 36 states and the FCT. When the INEC chairman invites Resident Electoral Commissioners for a meeting, the REC from the States and the FCT attend. The same thing happens when the Inspector General of Police meets with Commissioners of Police from the states and the FCT.
“Simply put, the 36 states and the FCT go together. It is disingenuous to argue otherwise.”
