Falana Calls for Abuja to be Recognized as 37th State in Nigeria to Ensure Equal Voting Rights

Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has declared that all votes cast in Nigeria are equal, as Abuja – the Federal Capital Territory – has been interpreted in the Constitution as the 37th state of the country. This statement was made in response to the electoral disputes brought by the opposition concerning INEC’s declaration of Bola Tinubu of the APC as president elect despite not receiving 25% of votes in the FCT. Falana referenced Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution which states that a winner of a presidential election must have at least one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party have filed petitions at the Presidential Election Tribunal challenging Tinubu’s declaration as the winner. Falana, who expressed his opinion on Section 134 of the Constitution on January 23rd, stated that since Abuja has been interpreted to be a 37th state in Nigeria, there should be no controversy.