The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the suit filed by lawyers representing Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, seeking the live broadcast of the tribunal proceedings.
Gists9ja reports that the justices delivered their ruling, stating that the request for televised proceedings holds no relevance to the petition and is not supported by existing legislation.
According to Justice Haruna Tsammani, who delivered the ruling, “Televising the court cases is not provided for by the constitution and the powers are not resided hereon.
“This panel sitting as PEPT only has the power to listen to presidential cases.
“The issue of televising is a policy matter.
“This court has no power to write that policy.
“However, the justices have authority to give a legal right or enforce the televising of proceedings for the case of fair hearing and justice.
“This application is devoid of merit and is accordingly dismissed.”
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the main petitioners challenging the outcome of the presidential election, had sought to have the proceedings broadcasted live to ensure transparency and wider access to the legal proceedings.
However, the tribunal’s decision upholds the current practice of conducting the hearings without live broadcasting.
