The presidential candidate of the people’s democratic party, Atiku Abubakar, has approached the presidential election petition court to seek an order allowing the live broadcast of the proceedings of his petition.
Atiku and PDP are expected, at Tuesday’s sitting, to draw the attention of the panel to this fresh application they filed.
Atiku and PDP, in the application dated May 5, and filed May 8, prayed the tribunal 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 a team of lawyers led by Uche, was predicated, among other grounds, the fact 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.”
They contended that being a unique electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional dimension, it was a matter of public interest where millions of Nigerian citizens and voters were stakeholders with a constitutional right to receive.
Atiku and PDP said, “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.”
Alex Enumah
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