Atiku tells tribunal to allow live broadcast of proceedings

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, has asked the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) for an order permitting the live broadcast of the court’s ongoing proceedings.

Mr Abubakar is challenging the outcome of the February 25 Presidential election before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja.

He made the request in an application filed on May 5, by his lawyers led by Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

“An order directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their equipment into the courtroom.”

Mr Atiku is requesting a decision to permit physical or electronic public access to hearings as a crucial component of the Court’s constitutional obligation to hold proceedings in public.

“An integral part of the constitutional duty of the Court to hold proceedings in public is a discretion to allow public access to proceedings either physically or by electronic means.

“With the huge and tremendous technological advances and developments in Nigeria and beyond, including the current trend by this Honourable Court towards embracing electronic procedures, virtual hearing and electronic filing, a departure from the Rules to allow a regulated televising of the proceedings in this matter is in consonance with the maxim that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.

“Televising court proceedings is not alien to this Honourable Court, and will enhance public confidence,” the Mr Abubakar argued.

In April, the former vice president petitioned the election tribunal asking that President-elect Bola Tinubu be disqualified for having dual citizenship with Nigeria and Guinea, among other grounds.

The tribunal’s five-member panel, led by Haruna Tsammani, began hearing of presidential election petition on Monday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared that Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress polled 8,794,726 votes to win the election.

The commission declared that Atiku came second with  6,984,520 votes, while it announced Labour Party’s Peter Obi as the second runner-up with  6,101,533 votes.