Nigerians have been seeking to elect the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, members of the House of Representatives and Senate since Saturday, 25th February 2023. The most intriguing so far is the election to the office of the President.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as
amended) ("the 1999 Constitution) requires the fulfillment of
two major conditions for a candidate to be duly elected as the
President where the candidates in the election are more than two.
Section 134 (2) of the 1999 Constitution gives the conditions as
follows:
a) The candidate must secure the highest number of votes cast at
the election; and
b) The candidate must have not less than one-quarter (1/4) of the
votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of the
States in the Federation and the Capital Territory, Abuja.
If a candidate satisfies the provision of Section 134(2) of the
1999 Constitution, the provision of Section 134 (3) of the 1999
Constitution would not be called in aid, meaning there would be no
need for a second election (i.e. a re-run/runoff).
The question however is whether there is a need for a second
election if a candidate scores the highest number of votes cast in
the election, secured not less than 25% of the votes cast in at
least 24 States, but fails to secure 25% of the votes cast in the
FCT...
To read the full article, kindly download the PDF
To view original Tope Adebayo article, please click here.
Originally published 1st March 2023.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
