Bola Tinubu has recorded his first major victory at the presidential election petition tribunal.
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC, sitting in Abuja, denied a request to broadcast live its day-to-day proceedings on petitions seeking to overturn the results of the 2023 presidential election.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu has opposed the request by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to broadcast the day-to-day court proceedings.
The five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani dismissed as lacking merit the application brought before it by the two major candidates contesting the results of the February 25 presidential election.
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The court determined that no regulatory framework or policy directive allowed it to approve the application.
It was determined that allowing cameras in the courtroom is a significant judicial policy that must be supported by law.
“The court may only act in accordance with the practise directions and procedures approved by the President of the Court of Appeal.
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Justice Tsammani ruled, “We cannot permit a circumstance that could lead to the dramatisation of our proceedings.”
In addition, the court determined that the request was not included in any of the petitions before it, stating that it was based solely on an emotional argument that it would benefit the electorate.
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It was argued that the petitioners failed to demonstrate how televising the proceedings would help their case, adding that live broadcasting would not add any practical value to the determination of the petitions.
Former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who finished second in the election, initially requested live coverage of the court proceedings on the petitions. Subsequently, the candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, threw his support behind the demand.
The duo, through their lead attorneys, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, and Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, argued that the petitions they filed to challenge the election victory of the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, were “a matter of monumental national concern and public interest”.
They argued that the case involved the interests of citizens and electorates in the 36 states of the Federation and in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, who, according to him, voted and participated in the presidential election.
