Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25, presidential election, has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) for an order allowing live broadcast of the day to day proceedings of the court.
The former Vice President is one of the petitioner’s challenging the victory of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate and the President-elect in that election.
Atiku and the PDP in an application dated May 5, are specifically praying the PEPC for “An order directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their Equipment into the courtroom.
The application filed on their behalf by their team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, is predicated amongst other grounds that: The matter before the Honourable Court is a dispute over the outcome of the Presidential Election held on 25th February 2023, a matter of national concern and public interest, involving citizens and voters in the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, who voted and participated in the said election; and the International Community as regards the workings of Nigeria’s Electoral Process.
According to the applicants being a unique electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional dimension, it is a matter of public interest whereof millions of Nigerian citizens and voters are stakeholders with a constitutional right to receive.
“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 petitioners noted..
No date has been fixed for hearing in the fresh application.
Recall the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), had in its communique at the end of its National Executive Committee meeting in Birnin Kebbi March 23 urged the judiciary to allow for live broadcast of court hearings on election petitions, particularly the presidential election cases.
Also, a group, under the aegis of Leaders of Thoughts and Legal Icons, had supported the initiative. To this end, the group had invited Nigerians to sign up on an appeal on commonbliceng, a non-partisan online platform, in support of the initiative.
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