The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Thursday heard the application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to allow for the live televising of the ongoing election petition proceedings.
Parties to the petition adopted their processes and agreed that documents certified by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) will be tendered without objections.
The PDP and Atiku, through their counsel, Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had prayed to the court for an order allowing the live broadcast of the proceeding due to the monumental importance of the case.
The petitioners argued that Nigerians being stakeholders have a right to have a real-time information about the election petition proceedings.
All the respondents to the petition namely INEC, the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) vehemently opposed the application.
Among other reasons, they contended that the court is not a circus, a film house or a theatre but for serious and solemn business.
Counsel for APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) asked the court not to concede the request to turn the court into a Big Brother electoral series.
After hearing arguments from all parties, the court stood down for five minutes.
Tinubu, and the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima urged the court to dismiss the application by Atiku and PDP for a live broadcast of proceedings.
They argued that the relief sought by the applicants are not such that the court could grant it.
“With much respect to the petitioners, the motion is an abuse of the processes of this honourable court”, the respondents stated.
Besides describing the application as frivolous, they said the court was not a soapbox, stadium or theatre where the public should be entertained.
Through their team of lawyers, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), they wondered why a petitioner would file an application to distract the court and waste its precious time.
They stated, in the counter affidavit, that the application relates to policy formulation of the court, which is outside the PEPC’s jurisdiction as constituted.
“The application also touches on the powers and jurisdiction invested in the President of the Court of Appeal by the Constitution, over which this honourable court as presently constituted cannot entertain.
“The application touches on the administrative functions, which are exclusively reserved for the President of the Court of Appeal.
“The application is aimed at dissipating the precious judicial time of this honourable court.
“The said application does not have any bearing with the petition filed by the petitioners before this honourable court.
“It is in the interest of justice for this honourable court to dismiss the said application filed by the petitioners”, they said.
