How are does the constitution and INEC determine the winner of Nigeria’s Elections? What are the requirement and criteria that must be fulfilled before a certain candidate can be declared winner in a Presidential, Governorship, Legislative and local government?
Does Nigeria determines its electoral winners through a simple majority, absolute majority or is there a unique constitutional condition that must be met before a candidate is declared the winner? These are some of the questions this article seeks to answer.
Before we list how winners are determined in Nigeria’s elections, here are some requirements that must qualify a candidate in an election
- Age: The candidates must be at least 40 years old for the presidency, 35 years for the Senate, and 30 years for the House of Representatives.
- Citizenship: The candidates must be a citizen of Nigeria birth.
- Education: The candidate must have a minimum of a school certificate or its equivalent.
- Criminal Record: The candidate must not have been convicted of any criminal offence.
- Residency: The candidate must have lived in Nigeria for at least 10 years before the election.
- Political Party Membership: The candidate must be a member of a registered political party.
- Nomination: The candidate must be nominated their political party.
- Electoral Campaign Fund: The candidate must declare their assets and source of funds used for the campaign.
How a winner is determined in a presidential election
Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution provides a details explanation of how winners are determined in a Presidential election. The requirement that must be met are two in other to be declared a winner in presidential elections, they include:
majority of votes cast at the election; and
not less than 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 FCT, Abuja. Section 136 of the constitution of Nigeria
By implication, a presidential candidate must score twenty-five per cent of the total votes cast at the election in two-thirds of the states. That is, the presidential candidate must have twenty-five per cent of the votes in 66.6 per cent of the states alongside the FCT.
In addition to the above, the candidate must also score the highest vote cast in the country.
There are currently thirty-six states in Nigeria. In addition to the FCT, this will be 37. A presidential candidate must score at least 25 per cent of votes in 24 states and 25% in Abuja.
Two-thirds of thirty-seven is 24.66, since 0.66 is not up to a whole number the nearest whole number is 24. Twenty state is used as the benchmark. These are the two conditions that must be met to be declared a winner in Nigeria’s presidential elections.
Meeting the above conditions may not be possible. There is a second option prescribed the constitution that must be followed if no candidate met the above condition.
Must a candidate score 25 % in Abuja to win a presidential election?
Yes, a candidate has to score twenty-five per cent of votes cast in Abuja before being declared a winner in a presidential election. The confusion from this question stems from section 136 of the Nigerian constitution that stipulates 25% in least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the FCT, Abuja.
The issue is still an on going debate that the court is yet to decide on
Second balloting/runoff
The runoff is conducted to determine a single winner. If no candidate can meet twenty-five of the votes cast in two-thirds of the state’s criteria then a rerun or second ballot will be required. INEC is obligated to conduct a runoff. The runoff must be conducted 21 days from the first elections.
In other to be qualified for a runoff there are two requirements or criteria that must be met according to the constitution of Nigeria.
the candidate who scored the highest number of votes at any election held in accordance with the said subsection (2) of this section;
and b. one among the remaining candidates who have a majority of votes in the highest number of States, so however that where there is more than one candidate with the majority of votes in the highest number of States, the candidate among them with the highest total of votes cast at the election shall be the second candidate for the election.Section 136 of the constitution of Nigeria
These are the two candidates that will take part in the runoff election and a winner will be determined a simple majority.
How a winner is determined in a governorship or gubernatorial elections in Nigeria
The rules that guide the process of election for a presidential candidate are also applicable in the governorship election. The only difference is the number of component units that make up a state.
In a gubernatorial election, the number of location governments will be used in determining the winner of the election. For any gubernatorial candidate to be declared a winner the candidate must score twenty-five per cents of votes in two-thirds of the number of local governments in the state.
In Lagos state, for instance, there are twenty local governments to be declared as the winner of the governorship election a candidate must score the highest number of votes cast and twenty-five per cent of votes in thirteen states.
How a winner is determined in a legislative ( houses of assembly) elections
The legislative elections are elections done to determine the members of the National Assembly which are the House of Representatives and the House of the Senate. To be declared a winner in this election you must score a simple majority. Any candidate with the highest number of votes is declared a winner. In this type of election, a vote can decide the winner.
At the state level, the House of Assembly constitutes only a chamber which is known as the State House of Assembling. The election winner is determined a simple majority system. That is, the candidate with the highest number of votes is declared the winner in this system of election.
How a winner is determined in a local government election – councillor/chairman
For you to be declared as the winner of a local government election, the candidate must score the majority of the votes and at least twenty-five per cent of votes in two third of the wards in the local government
In conclusion, these are the laid down legal requirement and criteria that must be fulfilled to be declared a winner in either the state, local, legislative or local government elections in Nigeria.
