May 18, (THEWILL) – The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting at the Appeal Court, Abuja, has reserved ruling in an application seeking live broadcast of its ongoing proceedings.
A five-member panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, made this known on Thursday, after the court took arguments from lawyers to parties in the case.
THEWILL reports that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, had filed the application along with his party, seeking a live telecast of the PEPC proceedings of the petitions filed against the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the winner of the February 25 presidential poll.
At the resumed court hearing on Thursday, lawyer to the Petitioners, Chris Uche (SAN), prayed the court to grant his clients’ request, while counsels to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President-elect, Bola Tinubu and the APC, opposed the application.
Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) for INEC, Woke Olanipekun (SAN) for Tinubu and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the APC described the application as ridiculous, intended to among others, trivialize the court’s business.
They added that the court has met the constitutional requirement by making sufficient arrangements for the public to follow the proceedings by allowing a large media presence and providing huge television screens in the court’s foyer.
In his argument, Wole Olanipekun, counsel for Bola Tinubu, found it surprising that the application was brought by the petitioner in the first place, stating that they are in court for serious business.
Also, counsel for the APC, Lateef Fagbemi, in his argument, said televising the proceedings is similar to BBNaija (Big Brother Nigeria).
Fagbemi further stated that there is a distinction between a trial for the public and a trial by the public, if this is done, other tribunals will be seeking the same order.
On his part, Counsel for the INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, said bringing cameras into the courtroom will defeat the solemn atmosphere that the courtroom is known for. He insisted that they want to do their work in a solemn atmosphere without having cameras on their faces.
They all prayed the court to reject the application for live coverage as it was unnecessary and uncalled for.
THEWILL earlier reported that the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have filed their responses in support of live coverage of the PEPC’s proceedings.
