In the case they brought against the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, which begins today, the Peoples Democratic Party and Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate in the recently concluded presidential election, have requested permission to broadcast the daily court proceedings in real time.
In the application filed by his legal team, which was lead by Chris Uche, SAN, he expressly asked for “An order directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their Equipment into the courtroom.”
The petition, according to PDP presidential candidate Atiku, is a matter of public interest and national concern.
The world community is interested in Nigeria’s electoral process, he argues, and the case involves voters and residents in the 36 states that make up the Federation who took part in the recently held presidential elections.
They also claim in their motion that, “Given the enormous and tremendous technological advancements 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 controlled television broadcast of the proceedings in this matter is in consonance with the maxim that justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done,”
“Televising court proceedings is not alien to this court, and will enhance public confidence”, the petitioners noted.
Additionally, they asked the court to revoke Tinubu’s Certificate of Return, which had been given to him by the Independent National Electoral Commission on behalf of the governing All Progressives Congress.
He said that the choice to proclaim Tinubu the winner of the presidential election was “invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
But in a response, Tinubu questioned the legitimacy of petitions seeking to void his election victory through a team of attorneys led by Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
Atiku was characterized by Tinubu in a preliminary objection he filed before the court as a persistent loser who had switched political parties numerous times since 1993 in search of power.
Recall that Atiku received 6,984,520 votes, Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, and Obi received 6,101,533 votes to finish third. Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election.
