President Bola Tinubu has warned members of the presidential elections tribunal that removing him as president could lead to a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria.
Mr. Tinubu admitted failing to score 25 percent of votes in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Still, he said it was insufficient to overturn his victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“Any other interpretation different from this will lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy, and alteration of the very intention of the legislature,” President Tinubu’s lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun reportedly said in their final defense statement to the court.
The lawyers were specifically addressing a section of the Nigerian Constitution that said a presidential candidate must score 25 percent of votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, or Abuja.
The President’s legal team said courts have always been careful about giving extreme interpretations of the Constitution that could spark chaos.
The lawyers said, “Our courts have always adopted the purposeful approach to the interpretation of our Constitution, as exemplified in a host of decisions. Even if there was no election in one State (including the FCT), or even if the election of a State/state (including the FCT) is/are voided, the entire election cannot be voided or canceled.
In concluding our arguments on this issue, we urge the court to hold that in any election where the electorate exercises their plebiscite, there is neither a ‘royal’ ballot nor a ‘royal’ voter; and that residents of the FCT do not have any special voting right over residents of any other State of the federation, like the concepts of preferential shareholding in Company Law.
We urge this court to resolve this issue against the petitioners and in favor of the respondent”.
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