The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on Tuesday gave an indication that it would consider the prayer of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party’s demand for a live broadcast of its proceedings.
The tribunal presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani asked the parties in the ongoing petitions to settle and decide on their objections, including the motion on notice filed by the PDP and its standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar requesting for the live broadcast of the presidential tribunal proceeding which began on Monday.
Tsammani gave the directive during Tuesday’s hearing when the matter was raised by counsel for the PDP and Atiku, Chris Uche, SAN.
Speaking at the resumed pre-hearing session, the head of the five-man panel assured that the application for a live broadcast of the proceedings “will be considered together with the other issues.”
The PDP and Atiku, in an application dated May 5, argued that televising the court sitting would enhance transparency and boost citizens’ confidence in the judicial process.
The PDP and Atiku are challenging the victory of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, in the February 25 presidential election on the grounds that the Independent National Electoral Commission failed to electronically upload the Election results as of the time the winner was declared.
The respondents in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023, are the INEC, Tinubu and the APC.
Also, the LP and its candidate, Peter Obi claimed the ex-Lagos State Governor did not secure at least one-quarter of the votes cast in the election in the Federal Capital Territory.
In their application for a live telecast of the court proceedings, the PDP and Atiku specifically prayed to the court 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 by their team of lawyers led by Chris Uche, SAN, was premised on the grounds that the matter before the court was a dispute over the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25 and therefore, a matter of National concern and Public interest.
They also contended that being a unique electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional dimension, it was a matter of public interest where millions of Nigerians were stakeholders with a constitutional right to watch the sitting.
The applicants said, “An integral part of the Constitutional duty of the court to hold proceedings in public is at 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 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 court, and will enhance public confidence.”
Addressing the court during the resumed pre-hearing session on Tuesday, the counsel to Atiku and the PDP stressed the urgency of the application.
He pointed out that the application was a motion of priority which required immediate attention given the national importance of the issue at hand.
Uche stated, “We urge your Lordship to set it down for hearing and adoption as soon as the court’s business may allow.”
In the course of announcing the appearance of the petitioners’ legal team, Uche craved the indulgence of the court to permit him to announce five names against the three recommended, adding that he stumbled upon “order 3 rule 11” which provided the allowance.
But Tsammani asked him to maintain the agreed three names with respect to the presidential election.
“Agreement is an agreement,” the justice said, but the senior lawyer responded, ‘’My Lord, there were many agreements in this election that were broken.”
