Atiku, PDP to PEPC: Why hearing of petitions should be televised

By Wandoo Sombo and Edith Nwapi

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has explained why the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) should allow live broadcast of proceedings in his petition challenging victory of Bola Tinubu of APC in the 25 February presidential election.

According to Atiku, the matter before the court is a dispute over the outcome of the Presidential Election held on Feb. 25 and therefore a matter of national concern and public interest in which many Nigerians are interested in.

Atiku and the PDP made the demand in an application dated May 5.

They specifically prayed 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.

In the application filed by their team of lawyers led by Mr Chris Uche, SAN, 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 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 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.”

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) recalls that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), had in its communique at the end of its National Executive Committee meeting in Birnin Kebbi on March 23 made a similar call.

The NBA had 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.

The group had invited Nigerians to sign an appeal an online platform in support of the initiative.

Mr Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer also backed calls for live broadcast of election petition trials.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the application.

The tribunal began pre-hearing in the petitions challenging the outcome of the Feb. 25 presidential election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared that Sen, 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.

But Atiku, Obi and some other parties rejected the results announced by INEC and had approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to annul Tinubu’s victory.

Atiku, in his 66-page petition, is praying the tribunal to declare him winner of the poll or order a fresh election.

On his part, Obi, in his petition, is also praying the tribunal to nullify Tinubu’s election. (NAN) www.nannews.ng