The Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja has rejected request to allow a live broadcast of its proceedings on petitions seeking to nullify the election of Bola Tinubu as winner of the 2023 presidential election.
A five man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani dismissed the application for lacking in merit.
In a unanimous ruling, the panel held that no regulatory framework or policy direction, permitted it to grant such application.
The panel further ruled that allowing cameras in the court room is a major judicial policy that must be supported by law.
Besides, the court held that the request was not part of any relief in the petitions before it, saying it was merely hinged on sentimental claim that it would benefit the electorates.
It maintained that the petitioners failed to establish how televising the proceedings would advance their case, adding that such live broadcast would not have any utilitarian value to add to the determination of the petitions.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and his party initially made the request for a live coverage before the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi his party filed a similar application.
Through their lead lawyers, Chris Uche and Livy Uzoukwu, the petitioners maintained that their case against Tinubu is a unique electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional dimension.
They argued that it is a matter of public interest in which millions of Nigerian citizens and voters are stakeholders, with the constitutional right to be part of the proceedings when transmitted live.
But countering the position of the petitioners, the respondents in the matter, INEC, APC and Tinubu asked the court to dismiss the application for lack of merit.
They argued that allowing live televising of the proceedings will defeat the protection afforded to witnesses, expose them to avoidable censure and put them in a precarious situation.
