The camp of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the dismissal of his request to televise the daily proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on petitions seeking to overturn the outcome of the 2023 election.
OsunDaily News earlier reported that the tribunal had dismissed the applications filed by Atiku and the flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to televise its daily proceedings on petitions seeking to contest the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the President-elect.
In a ruling on Monday, Justice Haruna Tsammani’s five-member panel of the tribunal rejected the application, stating that it is lacking in merit.
The court ruled that no existing regulatory framework or policy allowed it to approve such a request. It stated that allowing cameras in the courtroom requires legal backing as a major judicial policy.
The court argued that the request was not part of any relief in the petitions and was based merely on a sentimental claim of public interest, adding that the petitioners failed to demonstrate how televising proceedings would benefit their case.
Reacting to the development, counsel to PDP and Atiku, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) said the ruling of the tribunal was not a setback to their petition against Tinubu’s victory.
He said: “There is no setback here. The court in its wisdom decided that the subject of our application on the live streaming and open telecast did not, in any way, connect with the merit of our petition.
“The petition is separate; it is ongoing. The application did not succeed to have the televised version of the proceedings. As far as we are concerned, we are now set for a hearing.
“Tomorrow, we will be heard by God’s grace for the pre-hearing report that will determine the progress of the petition and the time the petition will be heard and concluded.”
On the issue of the request for the consolidation of the three petitions against Tinubu, Jegede said it was the application that was compelled by statute and that they had no objection to it.
