By our Reporter
The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on Monday has rejected the applications for live broadcast of proceedings in Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi’s petitions challenging Bola Tinubu’s victory as Nigeria’s president-elect.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s,(LP) Peter Obi had urged the court to allow a live broadcast of its sessions owing to the magnitude of the dispute.
But a five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis for its proceedings to be broadcast live.
Citing section 36 of the Nigerian constitution, Mr Tsammani held that fair hearing of court proceedings “does not amount to conducting court sittings on television or in a stadium.”
“The request (for a live broadcast of the court proceedings) has no utilitarian value. Live broadcast of court proceedings has no provisions in our statutory books,” Mr Tsammani noted. “There is nowhere in the constitution and Electoral Act for televising court sittings.”
The court further held that the issue of live broadcast of court hearings has to be “a judicial policy” that would be put in place by the heads of courts.
“Live broadcast of proceedings is a judicial policy,” he said.
Mr Tsammani said, “We cannot permit a procedure that dramatises the court’s proceedings.
“This application is devoid of merit and it is accordingly dismissed,” the court said.