Article summary
- The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal while dismissing the application of parties seeking live broadcast of the suit said the request lacked merit.
- The tribunal in a unanimous decision held that the order sought by the petitioner was outside the scope of the petition, adding that televising of proceedings is not provided for in any law.
- It further stated that granting the request for a live broadcast of proceedings of the petition would not add any value to the petition.
The Presidential Election Petition Court has on Monday dismissed the application the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), as well as their presidential candidates, seeking to allow live telecast of the ongoing petition against the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election.
The five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, on Monday, dismissed the request which was made by the aggrieved parties and some presidential candidates as lacking in merit and rejected it.
Not supported by law
The tribunal in a unanimous decision, held that the order sought by the petitioner was outside the scope of the petition, adding that televising of proceedings is not provided for in any law.
The court held that allowing cameras in the courtroom is a major judicial policy that must be supported by the law.
It also stated that the court is created by the constitution and operates under the law by the Court of Appeal and that it was created to hear and determine the petitions before it and cannot act as a vanguard.
However, according to the ruling, no regulatory framework or policy direction permitted it to grant the application.
Justice Tsammani said,
- “The court can only be guided and act in accordance with the practice directions and procedures approved by the President of the Court of Appeal.
“We cannot permit a situation that may lead to dramatization of our proceedings.’’
Would not add value to the petition
The judges maintained that the undue pressure of allowing cameras into the courtroom should be avoided as the impact it will have on witnesses cannot be predicted.
The panel held that the request was capable of turning the court to a stadium or marketplace and that must not be allowed for now.
It further stated that granting the request for a live broadcast of proceedings of the petition would not add any value to the petition, adding that the request was not part of any relief sought by the petitioners and had no bearing on it.
It said that the request for a live broadcast would not add to the determination of the petitions adding that the petitioners failed to establish how the live broadcast of the proceedings would advance their case.
In case you missed it
Recall that on May 8, presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, filed an application for an order to allow the live coverage of the daily court proceedings on the case they brought against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, following the February 25 election.
The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, followed suit with a similar application asking that proceedings of the tribunal be televised.
However, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asked the tribunal to turn down the request.
