Atiku in Court, as Hearing in Live Broadcast Request, Other Applications Begin
L-R: Former Cross River Gov Liyel Imoke, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Acting PDP National Chairman Umar Damagum at the Presidential Election Petition Court
Alex Enumah in Abuja
Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the February presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday arrived the Court of Appeal venue of the Presidential Election Petition Court hearing his petition challenging the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as winner of the election.
Atiku, who came second in the February 25 presidential election, is asking the court to void the declaration of Tinubu as President-elect on grounds that Tinubu did not win majority of the lawful votes cast at the election, adding that the electoral umpire also manipulated the process in favour of Tinubu.
However, as the pre-hearing session commenced Monday, Atiku and the PDP, brought an application seeking the court’s permission for live broadcast of the proceedings.
When his lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, urged the court to give the application priority, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu indicated that they will respond to the request accordingly and within the time permitted by law.
The court however, directed parties to harmonize their processes and agree on applications to be taken and in what order, and subsequently fixed Thursday for continuation of pre-hearing.
In the motion dated May 5, and filed May 7, the petitioners are specifically praying 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.”
They predicated the application 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”.
They contended that 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”.
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